Leadership and Effecting Change in Public Health

Running head: LEADERSHIP AND EFFECTING CHANGE IN PUBLIC HEALTH
Leadership and Effecting Change in Public Health
Student’s Name
Institution

LEADERSHIP AND EFFECTING CHANGE IN PUBLIC HEALTH 1
Leadership and Effecting Change in Public Health
Part I: Scenario of Helen
Leadership has unique applications in the healthcare sector and has found significant
impact in the healthcare sector. In Australia, nurses and healthcare workers play a crucial role in
effecting service delivery and helping affected patients. The Health Workforce Australia (2013)
has provided a framework for leaders working in the healthcare sector. The purpose of the
framework is to provide guidance and guidelines for nursing professions to follow and
participate in effecting change within society. Helen’s case, a 35-year-old General Practitioner
(GP) shows the role that clinicians can play in transforming and initiating change in their
respective societies. The advantage of serving in a challenging environment is that it prepares the
individual to play an active role in self-improvement while at the same time playing a role in
community development.
According to Health Workforce Australia (2013), Australian healthcare sector faces
significant challenges such as balancing increasing burden of chronic diseases, ensuring a
continuous focus on quality and safety medical service delivery, and ensuring sustainability and
continuous availability of healthcare workforce. Helen’s region is not immune on these
challenges. According to the case study, Helen has been tasked with the responsibility of
administering awareness and sensitizing residents in Warnambool on cancer and promoting
healthy of the population rather than targeting individuals. Helen’s role in Warnambool is a clear
indication of how nurses and general practitioners are faced with challenges in their respective
communities. Nevertheless, a person in Helen’s position deserves leadership qualities. Health
Workforce Australia (2013) has provided leadership framework for GPs like Helen and this
could play a significant role in transforming and helping society where she works.

LEADERSHIP AND EFFECTING CHANGE IN PUBLIC HEALTH 2
Health Workforce Australia (2013) Australia recommends that all leaders should lead for
improvement. An analysis of Helen’s case indicates how leadership qualities could help her in
effecting change in her respective society and transforming the lives of people she serves. Health
Workforce Australia (2013) states that everyone owns leadership. When Helen is assigned the
responsibility to work in Warnanbool, one expects that she will use her skills to effect change
because she owns leadership It is for this reason that she is expected to become an influential
public health leader in her society and community at large. In spite of this requirement as
explained in Health Workforce Australia (2013), the community which Helen is expected to lead
appears skeptical of her role in community and views her as a young person with questionable
leadership skills. According to the case, Helen is expected to participate in health promotion,
finding the suitable resources for the community, finding disease prevention interventions, and
finding suitable resources that could help in transforming her community.
According to Algahtani (2014), leaders are expected to be creative and think critically to
tackle the challenges they face in their respective positions. Even though the society in Helen’s
environment is skeptical of her leadership qualities, one cannot underestimate the fact that she
has to be an active agent of change in transforming society and the people she is serving. Health
Workforce Australia (2013), developing capable leaders builds health leadership capacity. One
cannot underestimate the impact of this strategy when one explores the role of Helen in the
community she is assigned to lead. It is evident that Health Workforce Australia is determined to
develop and empower young leaders by placing them in challenging positions. According to the
case, Helen is expected to compile a report at the end of her service to show what she has done to
the community. Indeed, it is for this reason that she is contemplating teleconsulatations and
telesurgery with the goal of improving service delivery to her community.

LEADERSHIP AND EFFECTING CHANGE IN PUBLIC HEALTH 3
The goal of Health Workforce Australia is to develop people-focused leaders. Helen’s
position at Warnambool is to equip her with relevant skills and develop her existing skills by
prepring her for future leadership role in the community. The Health LEADS Australia which is
a national approach is a transforming initiative intended to transform society while at the same
time preparing a community of social leaders that are prepared to play a continuous leadership
framework. The LEAD framework intends to prepare leaders to lead themselves, engage others,
achieve outcomes, drive innovation, and shape systems. It is evident from the role that Helen is
playing in Warnambool that she is performing in accordance to this framework. She is working
as a GP and she has to lead herself while at the same time leading others. She is also supposed to
engage community and her co-workers in effecting change. In the end of her service, she is
expected to compile a report that shows her achievements or outcomes for what she has done for
the Warnambool community. As a driver of change, Helen is thinking about the teleconsultations
and telesurgery to mitigate the challenges that the community faces. It is expected that she will
have an impact on shaping systems if she successfully drives and implements change in her
assigned roles and responsibilities.
According to Health Workforce Australia (2013), LEADS is a point of reference for all
professionals working in any setting. If Helen is aware of this framework, then she will not be
detracted with what the community views on her role and duty in the society. Consider for
instance, where the society views her as young and inexperienced in driving change in her
assigned position. While one would expect that the task is too much for her, LEADS will act as
an empowerment tool by showing her what she is supposed to do for herself and the community
she is serving. This is an example of leadership strategy explained in Elton (2016). Saravo,
Netzel, and Kiezewetter (2017).explains that leaders are always a “work in progress.” Helen is