Development of the Maternal and Child Health Workforce: Focus Group and Needs Assessment Findings

Successfully training public health workers from governmental public health agencies and community-based organizations to collaborate and implement effective maternal and child health programs is a key component to assuring the health of women and children, particularly in vulnerable populations. In 2010, the Center of Excellence in Public Health Workforce Studies at the University of Michigan School of Public Health was awarded a grant from The Kresge Foundation to establish the Maternal and Child Health Community Training Program (MCH-CTP) to: 1) determine the size and composition of the maternal and child health workforce serving the Detroit, MI community; 2) assess workforce training needs; and 3) provide training to workers to improve maternal and child health services.

To initiate the program, a collaborative led by City Connect Detroit was formed with several community-based organizations and health agencies to guide development and implementation of MCH-CTP. In Fall 2010, two focus groups each were held with public health workers in organizations supporting maternal and child health programs and clients to whom they provide services. Focus group results were used to develop a multi-level needs assessment and enumeration survey collecting worker-level information and organizational-level data. This presentation will discuss the findings of these focus groups, the subsequent development of the needs assessment, and strategies for focusing training efforts on maternal and child health workers, particularly frontline staff.