Delivering quality technical assistance for local health department pandemic influenza planning

In 2006, the North Carolina Division of Public Health requested that each of North Carolina's 86 local health departments (LHDs) develop a pandemic influenza plan by March 31, 2007. To support the planning process, the Division contracted with the North Carolina Center for Public Health Preparedness (NCCPHP) in the North Carolina Institute for Public Health to provide technical assistance to LHDs. NCCPHP distributed a baseline survey to all LHD preparedness coordinators in September 2006 to determine plan status, planning barriers, and technical assistance needs.

Seventy-seven of 86 LHDs (90%) completed the survey. At baseline, most LHDs (86%) reported that they had begun planning, and 14 LHDs reported having a complete draft plan. Approximately half of all LHDs (52%) reported having a pandemic influenza planning committee. These committees most often included representatives from hospitals, emergency services, law enforcement, schools and universities, and local government agencies. The top barriers to planning were lack of time/competing priorities (73%), difficulty engaging stakeholders (37%), lack of guidance from state health department (25%), and insufficient knowledge of topic (23%). LHDs desired technical assistance from NCCPHP, including guidance on plan structure (59%) and content (51%), examples of promising practices from other counties (67%), and review of draft plans (67%).

A follow-up survey to be administered in April 2007 will measure progress made on LHD plans and identify successful local planning strategies. In addition, the follow-up survey will assess the extent to which NCCPHP technical assistance was used by LHDs and the perceived quality of that technical assistance.