255609 Better Prepared: Utilizing the Results of Wisconsin's Public Health Capabilities Assessments to Improve Public Health Preparedness and Response

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Diane L. Downie, MPH , Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Wisconsin Division of Public Health, Wisconsin Department of Health Services, Madison, WI
Kristen Audet, MPH , Population Health Institute, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, WI
Lisa Pentony , Wisconsin Division of Public Health, Department of Health Services, Madison, WI
Wisconsin's key public health preparedness challenge has been determining state, tribal, and local public health preparedness priorities without scientific standards. Therefore, when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released the Public Health Preparedness Capabilities: National Standards for State and Local Planning, Wisconsin utilized this guide in creating a novel set of Capabilities assessments, with Wisconsin-specific questions to measure preparedness across Wisconsin's decentralized public health system of 92 health departments and 11 tribes. The Wisconsin Public Health Preparedness Advisory Committee (PHPAC) led the design and development of 15 assessment surveys detailing all Capabilities functions, tasks, and resource elements; over 600 data points. Prior to dissemination, the assessments were pilot tested by a representative sample of local and tribal health officials and subject matter experts at the state level to ensure readability and clarity, and Wisconsin-specific questions added, including those focusing on the role of public health. Completed between August 10th-December 31st, 2011, these assessments provided a baseline for planning and identified areas for improvement. Assessment results indicated Wisconsin's strengths were in Public Health Laboratory Testing, Emergency Operations Coordination, and Public Health Surveillance and Epidemiological Investigation, while Community Preparedness, Fatality Management, and Mass Care needed improvement. Through this systematic approach and utilization of the Capabilities, gaps and improvements were collaboratively identified by multiple programs and translated into measurable workplans. These assessments introduced Wisconsin's public health community to preparedness standards and successfully gathered local, tribal, and state emergency preparedness and response data for use in measuring the achievement of CDC's Capabilities.

Learning Areas:
Program planning
Protection of the public in relation to communicable diseases including prevention or control
Public health or related organizational policy, standards, or other guidelines

Learning Objectives:
1. Introduce Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Public Health Preparedness Capabilities: National Standards for State and Local Planning. 2. Describe coordination of the Public Health Preparedness Advisory Capabilities Subcommittee and other stakeholders. 3. Describe key components of the assessment survey design, training, and dissemination. 4. Discuss results and identify lessons learned.

Keywords: Emergency, Community Planning

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I was involved in analyzing the assessments described.
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.

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