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

Abstract #117608

Sarah L. Kuljian, MPH, Center for Public Health and Disasters, UCLA, 1145 Gayley Avenue, Suite 304, Los Angeles, CA 90024, Kimberley Shoaf, DrPH, Center for Public Health & Disasters, University of California, Los Angeles, 1145 Gayley Avenue, Suite 304, Los Angeles, CA 90024, 310-794-0840, kshoaf@ucla.edu, Alina Dorian, PhD, UCLA Center for Public Health and Disasters, 1145 Gayley Ave, Ste 304, Los Angeles, CA 90024, and Steven J. Rottman, MD, UCLA Center for Public Health & Disasters, 1145 Gayley Ave Suite 304, Los Angeles, CA 90024.

UCLA's Center for Public Health Disasters (CPHD) provides public health preparedness trainings to various State and local partners. Topics offered by CPHD include: Public Health Incident Command System (ICS); Major Public Health Functions in Disasters; and Legal Authority and Responsibility of the Public Health Officer. Each training activity is designed with learning objectives that are mapped to the Core Emergency Preparedness Competencies for All Public Health Workers.

The primary goal of these trainings is to increase the public health preparedness of State and local agencies. CPHD has developed an evaluative process to assess the effectiveness of these trainings. We have identified several key variables that address the knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs of training participants and serve as a proxy for Public Health Preparedness. Knowledge-based pre- and post-tests in the form of self-administered questionnaires are used to assess the effectiveness of CPHD's training activities. A follow-up questionnaire is also administered to participants six months following the trainings to evaluate retention of training material and determine if participants have used the material in their jobs. Finally, a follow-up telephone interview is conducted with the Health Officer or Bioterrorism Coordinator to investigate any perceived agency impacts resulting from the trainings.

Results from a sample health department show the percentage of respondents answering more than 80% of the knowledge questions correctly increased from 42% (pre-training) to 76% (post-training) (paired sample t-test, n=266, p<.001). This presentation will address the importance of evaluation in assessing training activities, and present findings from a number of sample agencies.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant (learner) in this session will be able to

• Recognize the role of evaluation in enhancing/augmenting public health preparedness training programs.
• Describe three components of CPHD’s training evaluation process.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

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.