Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #111147

Justeen K. Hyde, PhD¹, Linda S. Sprague, MA¹, Basil Kim, MPH¹, Mary Clark, JD, MPH², and Karen Ann Hacker, MD, MPH¹. (1) Institute for Community Health, 119 Windsor Street, Ground Floor, Cambridge, MA 02139, 617-665-3850, JHyde@challiance.org, (2) Cambridge Public Health Department, 119 Windsor St., ground floor, Cambridge, MA 01239

Over the last four years, local public health departments have become increasingly involved in efforts to plan for and respond to human-initiated emergencies, such as bioterrorism and the spread of communicable diseases. Local health departments are recognized as playing a number of critical roles in emergency response, including the surveillance of unusual health events, the coordination of emergency medical teams, the provision of treatment recommendations and protocols for communicable diseases, and the dissemination of health information and risk communications plans. After years of decreased federal funding and local budgetary restrictions, an increase in responsibility for emergency planning has stretched the capacity of local public health agencies to meet new obligations for preparedness planning. One response by local and state health departments has been to regionalize services. This paper will draw on research findings from qualitative interviews conducted with 26 public health directors in Massachusetts, highlighting the benefits and challenges involved in the regionalization of public health emergency response services. Among the benefits are an increase in communication about local and state responsibilities and the development of relationships with neighboring health departments. The challenges to such efforts, however, are important to consider. These include variations across local political structures and beliefs about the acceptability of regionalization to local constituents. The strategies the region has developed to overcome some of the challenges they have faced in planning for the regionalization of services will be highlighted. This information will be of use to health officials interested in collaboration around a number of health issues.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify the benefits and challenges of local public health departments in their efforts to regionalize services.
• Learn about the strategies developed by one region to overcome some of the challenges of regionalization.
• Articulate how the experiences of one region can be applied to participants' own communities and used to inform their own strategies for regionalizing services.

Keywords: Community Collaboration, Public Health Movements

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.

Recorded presentation