The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA

Abstract #48495

Stan Romine, MPH, Betty Thompson, MSN, Bryan Todd, BA, and Celia O. Larson, PhD. Metropolitan Nashville Davidson County Health Department, 311 23rd Avenue North, Nashville, TN 37203, 615-340-5602, stan.romine@nashville.gov

The rapidly changing arena of public health challenges leaders to respond adaptively and promptly to new and complex issues. To be effective in meeting new challenges, creative problem solving and systems thinking become vital to an organization’s culture. Metropolitan Health Department (MHD) of Nashville and Davidson County initiated and developed a process that would achieve two goals: 1) develop an innovative program to impact upon an existing or new public health problem; 2) advance employee competencies in problem solving and systems thinking. To accomplish this, a formal internal grant process was developed that sought proposals for projects that incorporated systems thinking, demonstrated a need supported by data, incorporated a non-traditional approach and included an evaluation plan. All employees were eligible to submit proposals and department-wide collaboration was encouraged. A multidisciplinary team within the health department planned and implemented the grant process that included a request for proposals, technical assistance with proposal preparation, evaluation of proposals and proposal selection. Funds were reallocated to support the selected project with the potential to become part of the infrastructure of services provided by the health department. As a result of the competitive evaluation process, an “Indoor Environments Program” was selected for funding and implementation. This paper describes the design and implementation of the process, the lessons learned, and implications for improving organizational capacity, workforce competence, and organizational culture.

Learning Objectives:

• List 3 new issues in public health
• Provide an example of a systems approach in public health.
• Explain the need for improving public health workforce competencies

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
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.