The California Health Officers Association (HOAC) designed and field tested in a sample of local California health departments an assessment instrument that measures service, workforce and financial capacities and resources. Standards and competencies were developed by state and local public health experts for the core areas of communicable disease; environmental health; and vital records/data management. Our work has been shared with other states and national organizations with similar objectives. We report on the next phase of this multi-phased public health assessment project--rolling out the instrument statewide while developing other portions of the tool (e.g., MCH, health education/promotion) and field testing the environmental health component. We discuss implications for the public health workforce and make recommendations for strengthening local public health infrastructure. HOAC expects the process to lead to a consensus on the expectations of public health and the means by which its performance is measured. Such consensus on a set of generally accepted standards could lead to voluntary accreditation for local health departments.
Learning Objectives: 1. Participants will understand how local health department capacity and competence is being assessed for selected core public health functions. 2. Participants will learn how the assessment tool was designed, including how the standards were developed. 3. Participants will understand how California is coordinating and cooperating with other national assessment efforts, such as CDC and NACHO.
Keywords: Competency, Leadership
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: Health Officers Association of California (HOAC) sponsors this multi-phased project
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.