scholarly journals Formative dialogue research - an appropriate strategy in community public health projects?

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (Supplement_4) ◽  
Author(s):  
L H Ausland ◽  
I Stang
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Knowledge Base ◽  
Health Knowledge ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
County Council ◽  
Local Public Health ◽  
The Public ◽  
Preliminary Results ◽  
Self Evaluation ◽  
Public Health Workers

Abstract Background Lately, there has been a call for knowledge-based community public health strategies and for evaluating local public health interventions. In addition to contributing to the public health knowledge base, it is underlined that the evaluations should be formative for ongoing local processes. The community professionals often lack evaluation competency, and a university course (10 ECTS) about process- and self-evaluation has been developed and facilitated for local public health workers. Vestfold County Council and University of South-Eastern Norway have collaborated to develop the course. The course has a particular focus on Formative Dialogue Research (FDR). FDR strategies may emphasize both project impact and processes, and local competences. The FDR approaches also contributes to the public health knowledge base (Rønningen 2010). Objective To examine and discuss whether FDR in combinations with an evaluation course, may be an appropriate strategy to meet the new expectations for community public health evaluations. Results Preliminary results indicate that FDR in combination with a evaluation course, may be an appropriate and desirable approach in community public health projects. The local public health professionals welcome the course. The focus has until now been on the development of the course and the cooperation and dialogues between the university and the county. Questionnaire and interview data collected in September 2019 will exemplify and nuance these preliminary results. Conclusions So far, the developing process indicate that FDR in combination with a course in self- and process evaluation, support FDR as an appropriate evaluation approach in community public health projects and processes. Key messages The local public health workers often lack competences in project evaluation. FDR in combination with a comprehensive course in process and self-evaluation seem appropriate evaluation approaches in community public health projects.

Commentary: Who is Remembering Local Public Health? The Forgotten Pandemic Worker

2021 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 115-117
Author(s):  
Jodi Brookins-Fisher ◽  
Alexis Blavos ◽  
Heidi Hancher-Rauch ◽  
Amy Thompson
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Workforce ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Public Health Workforce ◽  
Local Public Health ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Future ◽  
Public Health Workers ◽  
Health Experts

As the COVID-19 pandemic rages, there is no end in sight to the stress induced on the public health workforce. It is clear over the last 18+ months that the woeful underfunding of public health efforts across the US impacted the speed and agility with which public health experts have tackled the pandemic. This has led to the emotional decimation of public health workers who have plowed forward, even as they have worked long and stressful hours while also being politically and physically vilified. If this continues, what does the future of our public health workforce look like?

scholarly journals Self-Assessment in the Measurement of Public Health Workforce Preparedness for Bioterrorism or other Public Health Disasters

2005 ◽  
Vol 120 (2) ◽  
pp. 186-191 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dave S. Kerby ◽  
Michael W. Brand ◽  
David L. Johnson ◽  
Farooq S. Ghouri
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Public Health Workforce ◽  
Self Assessment ◽  
Local Public Health ◽  
Public Health Agencies ◽  
The Public ◽  
Control And Prevention ◽  
Public Health Officials ◽  
Public Health Workers

Objective. The purpose of this study was to examine effective ways to evaluate public health workers' competence for preparedness. Methods. The Public Health Ready project, developed by the National Association of County and City Public Health Officials and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is a pilot program designed to prepare local public health agencies to respond to emergency events. Workers at a Public Health Ready site ( N=265) rated their need for training and their competence in meeting generic emergency response goals. Cluster analysis of cases was conducted on the self-assessed need for training. Results. Three groups of workers emerged, differing in their overall ratings of need for training. A given worker tended to report similar needs for training across all training goals. Conclusions. In this study, workers' ratings of need for training may reflect an overall interest in training rather than need for training in a particular area. Caution should be exercised in interpretation when generic goals and self-assessment are used to measure need for training. Future assessments of training needs may be more effective if they use objective measures of specific local plans.

scholarly journals Municipal public health officials and the Public Health Act

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heidi Lyshol
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Relevant Literature ◽  
Vocational Teachers ◽  
The Public ◽  
New Public Health ◽  
New Public ◽  
Public Health Officials ◽  
Public Health Workers ◽  
Public Health Act

Introduction: The Norwegian Public Health Act of 2012 was intended to give the municipalities a bigger stake in the health of the population by emphasizing public health at a municipal level. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of the Act on public health officials in the execution of their vocational roles.Research questions: How do public health officials in Norwegian municipalities balance the requirements of the new Public Health Act and what their local leaders, both politicians and bureaucrats, want? How do they use the Act in the performance of their vocational roles? Does this have any relevance for vocational teachers? Method :After a literature search, semi-formal interviews were conducted with 13 municipal public health officials who were also given practical tasks and short questionnaires. The interview transcripts were analysed using Thematic Analysis. This qualitative research technique is defined and described. Discussion and Results: The study shows that the public health workers see the Act as a useful tool and actively use it to leverage the public health field into greater importance. They feel that the Act is empowering, gives them greater pride in their work, and that it helps both them and their superiors to achieve greater understanding of public health workers’ roles in their municipalities. Using the informants’ own words, changes in the municipal public health workers’ roles and vocational self-definitions are discussed in the context of the new Act and selections from the relevant literature. Conclusion: The Public Health Act has changed the roles of municipal public health workers and helped them to further public health by giving them more responsibility and expanded their duty to safeguard health in all policies. The Act is seen as empowering, giving public health professionals pride in their work and greater role understanding, and should be heavily featured in the curriculum of future public health workers.

"A New Look in Latin American Relations: A Report on the Denver UNESCO Conference": A Comment

1960 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 168-168
Author(s):  
Howard Mitchell
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
The Public ◽  
Human Organization ◽  
Public Health Workers ◽  
New Look

I was chuckling along through Mr. Stycos' description of the UNESCO conference in Denver in the Winter issue of Human Organization (Volume 18, Number 4) when I came across his witicisms at the expense of public health, at which point I stopped chuckling. Having known myself some of the kinds of persons of whom Mr. Stycos spoke in his earlier remarks and unfortunately also having known a few of the public health types he ran across, I would not wish this gentleman to rest with the idea that most public health workers are these days as smug and blithely unconcerned for their product as those Mr. Stycos has known.

Occupational and public health considerations for work-hour limitations policy regarding public health workers during response to natural and human-caused disasters

2012 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 189-198 ◽  
Author(s):  
Murray R. Berkowitz, DO, MA, MS, MPH
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
The Public ◽  
Safety Concerns ◽  
Health And Wellbeing ◽  
Public Health Workers ◽  
Work Hour ◽  
The Impact

This article examines the occupational health considerations that might impact the health and wellbeing of public health workers during responses to natural (eg, floods and hurricanes) and humancaused (eg, terrorism, war, and shootings) disasters. There are a number of articles in the medical literature that argue the impact of how working long hours by house staff physicians, nurses, and first-responders may pose health and safety concerns regarding the patients being treated. The question examined here is how working long hours may pose health and/or safety concerns for the public health workers themselves, as well as to those in the communities they serve. The health problems related to sleep deprivation are reviewed. Current policies and legislations regarding work-hour limitations are examined. Policy implications are discussed.

Attitudinal Determinants of Local Public Health Workers' Participation in Hurricane Sandy Recovery Activities

2015 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 267-273 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole A. Errett ◽  
Shannon Egan ◽  
Stephanie Garrity ◽  
Lainie Rutkow ◽  
Lauren Walsh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Hurricane Sandy ◽  
Local Public Health ◽  
Public Health Workers

The Health Profession's Attitudes toward Single-Use Food and Beverage Containers

1977 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 120-124 ◽  
Author(s):  
BAILUS WALKER ◽  
MELBA S. PRICE
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Solid Waste ◽  
Disease Transmission ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Food Service ◽  
The Public ◽  
Beverage Containers ◽  
Food And Beverage ◽  
Public Health Workers ◽  
Single Use

A national survey was conducted to determine the attitudes of the public health profession toward single-use food and beverage containers. Data summarized in this report were obtained from 2,760 of 3,000 questionnaires mailed to survey participants. Results of this study reveal that public health workers identify single-use food and beverage containers as beneficial in terms of reducing the potential for cross-infection and disease transmission among users. Respondents also recognize the importance of these products in eliminating the need for dishwashing facilities and in conserving energy. Accordingly, most public health workers are of the opinion that single-use products “contribute very much” to sanitation levels in food service facilities. While realizing the benefits derived from paper and plastic food service products, public health professionals recognize that they contribute to solid waste problems. However, most of the respondents agree that the public health benefits of paper and plastic food service products are greater than the possible disadvantages, such as the contribution of these products to the character and volume of urban solid waste.

scholarly journals Local public health workers' perceptions toward responding to an influenza pandemic

2006 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ran D Balicer ◽  
Saad B Omer ◽  
Daniel J Barnett ◽  
George S Everly
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Influenza Pandemic ◽  
Local Public Health ◽  
Public Health Workers

Qualitative Assessment of a Novel Efficacy-Focused Training Intervention for Public Health Workers in Disaster Recovery

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 615-622 ◽  
Author(s):  
Craig Tower ◽  
Brian A. Altman ◽  
Kandra Strauss-Riggs ◽  
Annelise Iversen ◽  
Stephanie Garrity ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Disaster Recovery ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Hurricane Sandy ◽  
Qualitative Assessment ◽  
Willingness To Participate ◽  
Snowball Sampling ◽  
Local Public Health ◽  
Training Of Trainers ◽  
Public Health Workers

AbstractObjectiveWe trained local public health workers on disaster recovery roles and responsibilities by using a novel curriculum based on a threat and efficacy framework and a training-of-trainers approach. This study used qualitative data to assess changes in perceptions of efficacy toward Hurricane Sandy recovery and willingness to participate in future disaster recoveries.MethodsPurposive and snowball sampling were used to select trainers and trainees from participating local public health departments in jurisdictions impacted by Hurricane Sandy in October 2012. Two focus groups totaling 29 local public health workers were held in April and May of 2015. Focus group participants discussed the content and quality of the curriculum, training logistics, and their willingness to engage in future disaster recovery efforts.ResultsThe training curriculum improved participants’ understanding of and confidence in their disaster recovery work and related roles within their agencies (self-efficacy); increased their individual- and agency-level sense of role-importance in disaster recovery (response-efficacy); and enhanced their sense of their agencies’ effective functioning in disaster recovery. Participants suggested further training customization and inclusion of other recovery agencies.ConclusionThreat- and efficacy-based disaster recovery trainings show potential to increase public health workers’ sense of efficacy and willingness to participate in recovery efforts. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2016;10:615–622)

Examining Public Health Workers’ Perceptions Toward Participating in Disaster Recovery After Hurricane Sandy: A Quantitative Assessment

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 371-377
Author(s):  
Nicole A. Errett ◽  
Carol B. Thompson ◽  
Lainie Rutkow ◽  
Stephanie Garrity ◽  
Kandra Stauss-Riggs ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
New Jersey ◽  
Disaster Recovery ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Hurricane Sandy ◽  
Local Health ◽  
Willingness To Participate ◽  
Local Public Health ◽  
Public Health Workers

AbstractObjectiveWe aimed to quantitatively gauge local public health workers’ perceptions toward disaster recovery role expectations among jurisdictions in New Jersey and Maryland affected by Hurricane Sandy.MethodsAn online survey was made available in 2014 to all employees in 8 Maryland and New Jersey local health departments whose jurisdictions had been impacted by Hurricane Sandy in October 2012. The survey included perceptions of their actual disaster recovery involvement across 3 phases: days to weeks, weeks to months, and months to years. The survey also queried about their perceptions about future involvement and future available support.ResultsSixty-four percent of the 1047 potential staff responded to the survey (n=669). Across the 3 phases, 72% to 74% of the pre-Hurricane Sandy hires knew their roles in disaster recovery, 73% to 75% indicated confidence in their assigned roles (self-efficacy), and 58% to 63% indicated that their participation made a difference (response efficacy). Of the respondents who did not think it likely that they would be asked to participate in future disaster recovery efforts (n=70), 39% indicated a willingness to participate.ConclusionThe marked gaps identified in local public health workers’ awareness of, sense of efficacy toward, and willingness to participate in disaster recovery efforts after Hurricane Sandy represent a significant infrastructural concern of policy and programmatic relevance. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2016;10:371–377)

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