Prof. Raf Van Gestel was invited to present on demand and needs based approaches to health workforce modelling in the WHO Symposium: Health Workforce Modelling for Action, UN City, Copenhagen 28–30 April 2025. During his presentation, he presented how trends in number of specialist physicians jointly evolved with the burden of Disease (BoD) from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study. The research covers 31 countries, and three specialties (psychiatrists, pediatricians and dentists). His presentation highlighted a notable trend: following the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of psychiatrists closely followed trends in the mental health burden of disease.
Prof. Walter Sermeus chaired a parallel session on "Demand-Needs Based Approaches" in the the WHO Symposium: Health Workforce Modelling for Action, UN City, Copenhagen 28–30 April 2025. He concluded the session by summarizing the key points discussed. A quote from his conclusions:“Our panelists presented broad insights from work intelligence in primary care to mental health. We learned that we mainly anticipate the health workforce models, making less pure forecasting but more dynamic as they change when published. And qualitative data are as important as quantitative data to understand these dynamics”.
Dr. Sule Kurt’s poster presentation focused on “One hundred year of Goldmark Report: Strategic Human Resources Planning of Public Health Nursing” through the lens of contemporary health workforce challenges in the WHO Symposium: Health Workforce Modelling for Action, UN City, Copenhagen 28–30 April 2025. The Goldmark Report applied systematic job analysis to understand the role of nurses and to shape forward-looking reforms in nursing education and practice. This approach responded to acute labor shortages and surging public health demands. Her presentation reflected how historical insights can inform modern strategic human resources planning, especially in public health nursing, where demand continues to outpace supply.
