Antecedents to Allied Health Professional (AHP) Workforce Planning and Management in Rural and Coastal Areas: A Scoping Review.

Allied Health Professionals (AHPs) have a key role to play in addressing well-documented health inequalities in rural and coastal areas, but unequal AHP workforce distribution is a key challenge to them doing so. This systematic scoping review explores available international evidence on the AHP workforce in rural and coastal areas. It aims to map the existing literature and identify the key variables associated with the establishment of a more sustainable workforce. Following the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) guidelines a search was carried out in academic databases Medline, CINAHL, Web of Science and Business Source Premier, and policy and grey literature database Overton. 10,494 studies were identified. Following title and abstract screening and full-text review, 49 studies were identified for inclusion. Narrative synthesis identified eight key rural and coastal AHP workforce domains. Four are directly connected to the rural context, and four are related to generic human resource factors, but have distinct and potentially unique implications when considered in the rural context for the attraction and retention of AHPs. Findings are presented as an evidence‑informed framework designed to guide future scholarship and initiatives to improve AHP workforce recruitment and retention in rural and coastal areas.