Boards of Health: Different Abstracts of Governance

Boards of Health: Different Aspects of Governance

There are over 3,000 boards of health in the United States that represent a variety of jurisdictions such as city, county, tribal, district, local and state. Boards of Health operate under a variety of statutes but generally follow a universal set of standards: provide oversight to the health of a jurisdiction, represent the health of the community, and develop policies to protect the public health of the community. The role of the National Association of Local Boards of Health is to prepare and strengthen boards of health by empowering them to promote and protect the health of their communities through education, training and technical assistance.

The National Public Health Performance Standards Program (NPHPSP) Governance Assessment, Version 2, is designed to assist boards of health with establishing a baseline for supporting public health practice. This presentation will highlight the journey of a variety of boards of health and how each jurisdiction has used the NPHPSP in different settings. It is a panel discussion that illustrates a variety of boards of health (e.g. tribal, county, state), how they used the NPHPSP, and the role each board of health plays within the overall public health system. The featured boards of health will focus on oversight and guidance of local public health, and will determine how they have strengthened their ability to oversee public health within their communities.

Learning Objectives

• Describe different types of boards of health, highlighting similarities and differences between them

• Outline different strategies for implementing the NPHPSP, Version 2 Governance assessment in boards of health

• Learn roles of boards of health in different settings within the public health system

• Describe strategies that focus on stregnthening public health in a jurisdiction or community