228122 Healthy People Initiative: Understanding the User's Perspective

Tuesday, November 9, 2010 : 10:50 AM - 11:10 AM

Hilary Scherer, BA , Public Health Research Department, NORC at the University of Chicago, Bethesda, MD
Caitlin Oppenheimer, MPH , Public Health Research Department, NORC at the University of Chicago, Bethesda, MD
Jennifer Benz, PhD , Public Health Research Department, NORC at the University of Chicago, Marblehead, MA
Wilma Tilson, PhD, MPH , Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, DC
Carter Blakey , Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, US Department of Health and Human Services, Rockville, MD
Felicia Cerbone, MA , Public Health Research Department, NORC at the University of Chicago, Bethesda, MD
     
Background: Surveys of state, local, and tribal health organizations were conducted in 2005 and 2008 to assess awareness and use of Healthy People 2010. These studies document the extent of awareness; describe the nature of use and assess whether use is changing over time; identify barriers to use; and offer insight to assist in the development of Healthy People 2020. Methods: Based on the 2005 study design, the 2008 study included one self-administered questionnaire, fielded to 517 state, local, and tribal health organizations. The response rate was 70 percent. In-depth follow-up telephone interviews were conducted with 9 survey respondents. Results: Awareness and use of Healthy People is very high among key stakeholders, with overall use of the initiative increasing since the 2005 study. However, indicators of use vary significantly by organization type and size. Barriers to use have decreased significantly since 2005 and are primarily due to issues with the organization like resource constraints. However, some barriers associated with the initiative itself, such as the lack of implementation guides and data, are impacting use. Finally, study respondents expressed distinct, and conflicting, preferences regarding the format and content of Healthy People 2020. Conclusions: Healthy People serves different needs for different users at state, local, and tribal health organizations. In order to increase and broaden use of Healthy People the data suggest that HHS will need to take several steps such as providing implementation guidance and additional data for local and tribal users to effectively track and measures progress.

Learning Areas:
Program planning
Public health or related laws, regulations, standards, or guidelines
Public health or related public policy
Systems thinking models (conceptual and theoretical models), applications related to public health

Learning Objectives:
1. Identify different uses of Healthy People for state, local, and tribal health organizations. 2. Assess the facilitators and barriers to use of Healthy People for similar types of organizations.

Keywords: Federal Initiatives, Health Objectives

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am qualified to present on this topic because I am a senior health policy analyst in the office of the Assitant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation in the US Department of Health and Human Services. I oversee development, planning and evaluation of programs in the areas of health promotion disease prevention, women's health, and worksite wellness. I was the principle investigator for the Healthy People User studies. I am also I member of the Federal Interagency Workgroup for Healthy People 2020 and a previous member of the Healthy People Coordinating Committee for the past 10 years.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 4118.0: Diverse uses of the Healthy People initiate: From federal program planning to community evaluation