We must practice what we preach: a framework to promote well-being and sustainable performance in the public health workforce in the United States

Interest has been growing in regard to increasing the public health workforce and standardizing training to ensure there are competent professionals to support rebuilding and reinforcing the public health infrastructure of the United States. The need for public health leaders was recognized as early as the hookworm control campaign during 1909–1914 when it became apparent that prevention of disease should be distinct from clinical medicine and should be conducted by professionally trained, dedicated full-time public health practitioners. In recent years, research on the public health workforce and on standardizing health workforce education has significantly expanded. A key element of such a workforce is public health leadership, and DrPH programs are the means to provide effective public health education for these future health professionals. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the general trend of DrPH programs from past to present and analyze the common themes and variations of 28 Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH)-accredited DrPH programs in the United States. This research utilized a mixed-methods approach, investigating DrPH education at each school or program to improve our understanding of the current status of DrPH programs.

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Environmental Health Workforce – Essential for Interdisciplinary Solutions to the COVID-19 Pandemic

Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness ◽

10.1017/dmp.2020.242 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 1-3 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Benjamin J. Ryan ◽

Raymond Swienton ◽

Curt Harris ◽

James J. James

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Environmental Health ◽

Health Workforce ◽

Disease Outbreaks ◽

The United States ◽

Public Health Workforce ◽

Primary Role ◽

The Public ◽

Mass Gatherings ◽

Response And Recovery

ABSTRACT Interdisciplinary public health solutions are vital for an effective coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) response and recovery. However, there is often a lack of awareness and understanding of the environmental health workforce connections and capabilities. In the United States, this is a foundational function of health departments and is the second largest public health workforce. The primary role is to protect the public from exposures to environmental hazards, disasters, and disease outbreaks. More specifically, this includes addressing risks relating to sanitation, drinking water, food safety, vector control, and mass gatherings. This profession is also recognized in the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness and Advancing Innovation Act of 2019. Despite this, the profession is often not considered an essential service. Rapid integration into COVID-19 activities can easily occur as most are government employees and experienced working in complex and stressful situations. This role, for example, could include working with leaders, businesses, workplaces, and churches to safely reopen, and inspections to inform, educate, and empower employers, employees, and the public on safe actions. There is now the legislative support, evidence and a window of opportunity to truly enable interdisciplinary public health solutions by mobilizing the environmental health workforce to support COVID-19 response, recovery, and resilience activities.

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Testimonies on the Veterinary Public Health Workforce Expansion Act of 2007 (H.R. 1232) Presented before the Subcommittee on Health of the United States House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce, January 23, 2008

Journal of Veterinary Medical Education ◽

10.3138/jvme.35.3.439 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 35 (3) ◽

pp. 439-448 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Marguerite Pappaioanou ◽

Sheila W. Allen ◽

W. Ron DeHaven ◽

Alan M. Kelly

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

United States ◽

Health Workforce ◽

House Of Representatives ◽

The United States ◽

Public Health Workforce ◽

Veterinary Public Health

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Results and Recommendations From a National Public Health Workforce Development Systems Assessment Conducted in the United States

Pedagogy in Health Promotion ◽

10.1177/2373379920907640 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 237337992090764

Author(s):

Christina R. Welter ◽

Betty Bekemeier ◽

Jennifer McKeever

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

United States ◽

Workforce Development ◽

Health Workforce ◽

Phase 1 ◽

The United States ◽

Public Health Workforce ◽

Public Health Training ◽

Wide Range ◽

Health Workforce Development

Multiple public health workforce development assessments report individual worker knowledge and skill-based training needs. These assessments do not capture practitioners’ in-depth perceptions of complex public health challenges and whether workforce development approaches address these issues. To address this gap, the Public Health Learning Network—a national coalition of 10 Regional Public Health Training Centers located at United States accredited schools of public health, their partners, and the National Network of Public Health Institutes—conducted a public health workforce development assessment using a two-phased mixed-method design to explore systems-level gaps and opportunities for improving workforce development effectiveness. Phase 1 included a content analysis of major public health workforce development reports and peer-reviewed literature. Phase 2 included primary qualitative data collection of key informant interviews and focus groups via conference call with 43 participants representing 41 public health organizations at the local, state, and national levels. Results included a wide range of challenges with an emphasis on major systems changes, the shift in public health’s role to more effectively build community collective capacity, limited staff capacity and capability, and the need for more flexible and integrated training funding. Public health workforce development approaches recommended to address these challenges included improving pedagogical approaches toward more integrated, multimodal training delivered over time; increasing workforce capacity to address complex challenges such as racism and housing; and facilitating public health workforce development system coordination and alignment. Public Health Learning Network’s workforce assessment also identified opportunities for conceptualizing the definition and delivery of training toward ongoing learning.

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An Alzheimer’s Curriculum to Educate the Current and Future Public Health Workforce

Innovation in Aging ◽

10.1093/geroni/igaa057.030 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. 9-10

Author(s):

Taylor Kennedy ◽

Molly French ◽

Linelle Blais ◽

Nia Reed

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Health Workforce ◽

Adult Population ◽

Health Sector ◽

The United States ◽

Public Health Workforce ◽

Public Health Approach ◽

Health Crisis ◽

The Public ◽

Schools Of Public Health

Abstract Alzheimer’s disease is the 6th leading cause of death among adults in the United States and the 5th leading cause for those aged 65 and older. Nearly 14 million Americans will be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s dementia by 2060, but the public health workforce is struggling to meet current demands. As the older adult population continues to grow, the public health sector will need to ensure a sizable and competent workforce is prepared to meet the needs of those living with dementia as well as their caregivers. In support of national efforts to promote and ensure a competent workforce, the Alzheimer’s Association, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Emory University developed “A Public Health Approach to Alzheimer’s and Other Dementias” (ADOD) curriculum. The free, introductory curricular resource was first piloted by faculty and students at undergraduate schools of public health across the country; however, due to its broad applicability the curriculum has since been updated and expanded to educate graduate students in schools of public health, students in related disciplines, and practicing public health professionals. The curriculum provides an introduction to ADOD as a public health crisis, basics of dementia, the role of public health in addressing the epidemic, and the creation of dementia-friendly communities. The purpose of the curriculum is to educate future public health workforces about ADOD; encourage the current public health workforce to apply knowledge to practice; and seek to improve health outcomes for those living with dementia, as well as their caregivers.

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Perspective: A National Public Health Workforce to Control COVID-19 and Address Health Disparities in the United States

Open Forum Infectious Diseases ◽

10.1093/ofid/ofab304 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Peter H Kilmarx ◽

Theodore Long ◽

Michael J A Reid

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

United States ◽

Health Disparities ◽

Health Workforce ◽

The United States ◽

Public Health Workforce ◽

Contact Tracing ◽

Future Health ◽

Health Security ◽

Long Run

Abstract A large, well-trained public health workforce is needed to control COVID-19 in the United States in the short term and to address other disease burdens and health disparities in the long run. As the public health workforce declined following the 2008 financial crisis, many U.S. jurisdiction struggled to hire a sufficient number staff for roles initially including testing and contact tracing and more recently for vaccination. Ultimately, COVID-19 control will require a combination of vaccination and rapid investigation, contact tracing, and quarantine to stop chains of transmission. New federal resources for a public health workforce have been made available. With appropriate attention to addressing administrative barriers and ensuring equity, a 21 st-century U.S. public health workforce will hasten the control of COVID-19, provide economic relief to individuals and communities, reduce the burden of other infectious diseases, non-communicable diseases, and other disease burdens. A long-term commitment to a robust public health workforce is vital to ensuring health security and preparedness for future health threats.

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No Two Workforces Are the Same: A Systematic Review of Enumerations and Definitions of Public Health Workforces

Frontiers in Public Health ◽

10.3389/fpubh.2020.588092 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 8 ◽

Author(s):

Rory D. Watts ◽

Devin C. Bowles ◽

Eli Ryan ◽

Colleen Fisher ◽

Ian W. Li

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Systematic Review ◽

Health Workforce ◽

Health Workers ◽

The United States ◽

International Standards ◽

Public Health Workforce ◽

The Public ◽

Data Alignment ◽

Public Health Functions

The delivery and coordination of public health functions is essential to national and global health, however, there are considerable problems in defining the people who work in public health, as well as estimating their number. Therefore, the aim of this systematic review was to identify and explore research which has defined and enumerated public health workforces. In particular, how were such workforces defined? Who was included in these workforces? And how did researchers make judgments about the size of a workforce? In this systematic review, we identified 82 publications which enumerated a public health workforce between 2000 and November 2018. Most workforce definitions were unique and study-specific and included workers based on their occupation or their place of work. Common occupations included public health nurses and physicians, epidemiologists, and community health workers. National workforces varied by size, with the United States and Switzerland having the largest public health workforces per-capita, although definitions used varied substantially. Normative assessments (e.g., assessments of ideal workforce size) were informed through opinion, benchmarks or “service-target” models. There are very few regular, consistent enumerations within countries, and fewer still which capture a substantial proportion of the public heath workforce. Assessing the size of the public health workforce is often overlooked and would be aided by fit-for-purpose data, alignment of occupations and functions to international standards, and transparency in normative methods.

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Public Health Informatics Workforce Skills and Needs: A Descriptive Analysis using the 2017 PH WINS

European Journal of Public Health ◽

10.1093/eurpub/ckaa165.027 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽

Author(s):

B E Dixon ◽

T D McFarlane ◽

S J Grannis ◽

P J Gibson

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

United States ◽

Health Workforce ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Health Department ◽

The United States ◽

Skill Level ◽

Public Health Workforce ◽

Local Health ◽

Nationally Representative

Abstract In 2017, the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials fielded the Public Health Workforce Interests and Needs Survey (PH WINS), a nationally representative sample of state-level (SHA) and local health department (LHD) public health workers in the United States. The survey was an opportunity to measure the PHI workforce as well as assess the informatics needs of the broader PH workforce. We performed a cross-sectional study using the nationally representative 2017 PH WINS. A total of 17,136 SHA and 26,533 LHD employees participated in the survey. Respondents were asked to rate selected PH competencies with respect to the importance to their day-to-day work (i.e., not important to very important) and their current skill level (e.g., unable to perform, beginner, proficient, expert). We examined skill gaps, defined as discordance between self-reported importance (i.e., need) and skill level, for example, those reporting the competency as “somewhat important” or “very important” and “unable to perform” or “beginner.” Informaticians accounted for 1.1% of SHA respondents and 0.5% of LHD respondents working in a Big City Health Coalition agency, those that serve the top 30 most populous urban areas in the United States. While informaticians generally reported having the skills they needed for their jobs, other PH roles identified gaps. For example, 22.9% of clinical and laboratory workers felt the ability to “identify appropriate sources of data and information to assess the health of a community” was an important skill but they currently possessed low competency. This group similarly identified a gap with respect to collecting ‘valid data for use in decision making.' An informatics-savvy health department requires PHI competencies not just among PHI specialists but also among front line workers, program area managers, and executive leadership. Discordance suggests that agencies should examine ways to enhance training for PHI-related competencies for all PH workers. Key messages The informatics specialists’ role is rare in public health agencies. Significant data and informatics skills gaps persist among the broader public health workforce.

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