Evidentiary needs of US public health departments with a mission to advance equity and health: a qualitative analysis

ObjectivesWe sought the perspectives of lead public health officials working to improve health equity in the USA regarding the drivers of scientific evidence use, the supply of scientific evidence and the gap between their evidentiary needs and the available scientific evidence.DesignWe conducted 25 semistructured qualitative interviews (April 2017 to June 2017) with lead public health officials and their designees. All interviews were transcribed and thematically analysed.SettingPublic health departments from all geographical regions in the USA.ParticipantsParticipants included lead public health officials (20) and their designees (5) from public health departments that were either accredited or part of the Big Cities Health Coalition.ResultsMany respondents were using scientific evidence in the context of grant writing. Professional organisations and government agencies, rather than specific researchers or research journals, were the primary sources of scientific evidence. Respondents wanted to see more locally tailored cost-effectiveness research and often desired to participate in the planning phase of research projects. In addition to the scientific content recommendations, respondents felt the usefulness of scientific evidence could be improved by simplifying it and framing it for diverse audiences including elected officials and community stakeholders.ConclusionsRespondents are eager to use scientific evidence but also need to have it designed and packaged in ways that meet their needs.

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‘Gun shop projects’ for suicide prevention in the USA: current state and future directions

Injury Prevention ◽

10.1136/injuryprev-2020-043648 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. injuryprev-2020-043648 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Evan Polzer ◽

Sara Brandspigel ◽

Timothy Kelly ◽

Marian Betz

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Suicide Prevention ◽

Qualitative Interviews ◽

National Level ◽

State Level ◽

Programme Implementation ◽

Current State ◽

The Usa ◽

Public Health Officials ◽

The Impact

ObjectivesTo describe community-driven suicide prevention partnerships between firearm retailers and public health officials (‘gun shop projects’), including common elements and challenges.MethodsWe conducted qualitative interviews with leaders from state-level and national-level partnerships to determine common features, challenges and strategies used by these groups. Data were coded via theme analysis; two independent coders followed a shared codebook developed in an iterative fashion and with high inter-rater reliability.ResultsAcross 10 interviews, data revealed four main themes: (1) community building was a cornerstone of these efforts; (2) appropriate messaging and language were vital to successes; (3) groups employed various educational and outreach campaigns and (4) groups identified common challenges and obstacles.ConclusionsGun shop project partnerships between firearm retailers and public health officials show promise, with thematic data demonstrating common trends and steps towards successful programme implementation. Evaluative data are needed to determine the impact of these efforts on suicide prevention in local communities.

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Local public health officials and COVID-19: Evidence from China

10.1101/2020.07.18.20156828 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

John Jiang ◽

Maobin Wang

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Health Departments ◽

Local Public Health ◽

Public Health Departments ◽

Public Health Emergencies ◽

Slowing Down ◽

Medical Background ◽

Health Authorities ◽

Public Health Authorities ◽

Public Health Officials

Understanding what contributes to the slowing down of COVID-19 in China is essential for other governments to better deal with the pandemic. Similar to their counterparts in the U.S. and the U.K., local public health authorities in China are responsible for monitoring infectious diseases and organizing the responses to public health emergencies. However they are not typically viewed as essential as China policymakers focus on economic growth. Only 38% of the heads of the public health departments of Chinese cities have a medical background. We find that cities with medical professionals as the head of public health departments had lower infection rates and death rates from COVID-19. The results were significant only at the start of the outbreak. Our results suggest to better combat a pandemic, local public health authorities should be led by competent people who have a medical background.

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A Panel Evaluation of the Changes in the General Public’s Social-Media-Following of United States’ Public Health Departments during COVID-19 Pandemic

Journal of Primary Care & Community Health ◽

10.1177/2150132721995450 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 ◽

pp. 215013272199545

Author(s):

Areej Khokhar ◽

Aaron Spaulding ◽

Zuhair Niazi ◽

Sikander Ailawadhi ◽

Rami Manochakian ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Social Media ◽

State Level ◽

The State ◽

Public Health Department ◽

Health Departments ◽

The Public ◽

Public Health Departments ◽

The Social ◽

The U.S

Importance: Social media is widely used by various segments of society. Its role as a tool of communication by the Public Health Departments in the U.S. remains unknown. Objective: To determine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on social media following of the Public Health Departments of the 50 States of the U.S. Design, Setting, and Participants: Data were collected by visiting the Public Health Department web page for each social media platform. State-level demographics were collected from the U.S. Census Bureau. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention was utilized to collect information regarding the Governance of each State’s Public Health Department. Health rankings were collected from “America’s Health Rankings” 2019 Annual report from the United Health Foundation. The U.S. News and World Report Education Rankings were utilized to provide information regarding the public education of each State. Exposure: Data were pulled on 3 separate dates: first on March 5th (baseline and pre-national emergency declaration (NED) for COVID-19), March 18th (week following NED), and March 25th (2 weeks after NED). In addition, a variable identifying the total change across platforms was also created. All data were collected at the State level. Main Outcome: Overall, the social media following of the state Public Health Departments was very low. There was a significant increase in the public interest in following the Public Health Departments during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. Results: With the declaration of National Emergency, there was a 150% increase in overall public following of the State Public Health Departments in the U.S. The increase was most noted in the Midwest and South regions of the U.S. The overall following in the pandemic “hotspots,” such as New York, California, and Florida, was significantly lower. Interesting correlations were noted between various demographic variables, health, and education ranking of the States and the social media following of their Health Departments. Conclusion and Relevance: Social media following of Public Health Departments across all States of the U.S. was very low. Though, the social media following significantly increased during the early course of the COVID-19 pandemic, but it still remains low. Significant opportunity exists for Public Health Departments to improve social media use to engage the public better.

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