By Jacqueline (Jackie) Miller, Senior Research Data Analyst, Healthforce Center at UCSF

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New research selected by Health Affairs’ Editor in Chief as work that moves the field forward and needs more attention

Personal care aides (PCAs) play a vital role in ensuring that people with disabilities and older adults remain in their homes and communities, but according to recent research by Healthforce Center’s Susan A. Chapman, Laura Wagner, and Timothy Bates, in partnership with Rayna Sage and colleagues at the University of Montana, there is a shortage of these workers throughout the United States, particularly in rural areas.

By Nabiha Siddiqui based on work by Sunita Mutha, Janet Coffman, Susan Chapman, and Rebecca Hargreaves, Healthforce Center at UCSF

Dental therapy is a workforce innovation that appears to improve access to and equity in dental service delivery in the US. This webinar discussed the origins and evolution of this workforce model, the process of authorizing and implementing dental therapy training and practice in states, and the impacts on patients and providers in Minnesota where dental therapists have been established and integrated into clinical teams over the last decade.

By Sunita Mutha, MD, FACP, Director of Healthforce Center

If 2020 was the year of a collective reckoning on racial injustice across the nation, then 2021 was the year of laser-like focus on how to redouble our efforts to advance equity and become more anti-racist. As Healthforce Center at UCSF will celebrate our 30th anniversary in 2022, we are taking extra time to review where we've been and where we are going.

By Rebecca Wolfson

California will face a significant shortfall of registered nurses over the next five years due to long-term trends that have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new report by the UCSF Health Workforce Research Center on Long-Term Care.

Health systems are uniquely positioned to advance health equity by ensuring that their own workers are well, supported, and equipped to deliver high-quality care. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown how work environments in health systems affect the well-being of workers, whose capacity to deliver safe, patient- and family-centered care plays a central role in achieving health.

“Whenever somebody says, I think we have a nursing shortage, I think the answer we should all provide to that is, what do you mean by shortage? And where is it happening? It's really almost the beginning of the question, not the answer,” said Dr. Joanne Spetz, associate director of research at Healthforce Center at UCSF, a leading source for actionable research insights into the health care workforce. 

By Sunita Mutha, MD, FACP

California is providing debt relief for doctors and dentists who agree to accept Medi-Cal. The grant has lifted “an emotional burden,” one recipient said in The New York Times, adding, “I can focus on my patients.”