279601
Perspectives on public health training workforce competencies in a large urban health department: A needs assessment sponsored by a public health training center
Monday, November 4, 2013
: 12:50 p.m. - 1:10 p.m.
Janis Campbell, PhD,
Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK
Amanda Janitz, PhD, MPH,
Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK
Jennifer Peck, PhD,
College of Public Health, Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK
Vicki Tallchief, EdD,
College of Public Health, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK
Objective: The objective of this presentation is to understand the comfort levels with eight skills based on the Core Competencies for Public Health Professionals established by the Council on Linkages Between Academia and Public Health Practice in a large urban health department. Methodology: A needs assessment survey was administered to all employees with a 47.7% response rate (n=145). Comfort level for skills identified within the Core Competencies was ranked from 1 (not at all comfortable) to 5 (very comfortable), with an option to report not applicable to one's job where appropriate. Results: The highest mean level of comfort was reported for Cultural Competency. Communications, Leadership and Thinking, Community Dimensions of Practice, and Analytic/Assessment skills also received higher comfort rankings than Public Health Sciences. Over 35% of Support staff felt that all of the core competencies were not applicable to individual respective jobs, with the highest percentage reported for Analytic/Assessment (51.7%), Community Dimensions of Practice (51.0%), and Public Health Sciences (58.4%). Twenty-two percent (22%) to 41% of non-Supervisors reported that the competencies were not applicable to individual specific responsibilities, with the highest percentage in the Financial Planning and Management (41%). Conclusions: Biostatistics, Environmental Health, and Epidemiology received the lowest mean importance, so we recommend increasing integration of these skills into training. We recommend increased training of Support staff regarding all skills. Supervisors had a higher mean comfort level for all core competencies compared to non-Supervisors, so trainings could focus on increasing comfort with the core competencies in non-Supervisors.
Learning Areas:
Conduct evaluation related to programs, research, and other areas of practice
Learning Objectives:
Identify skills that need more focus through trainings at the health department.
Explain how the health department can improve comfort with the Core Competencies among its employees.
Keyword(s): Needs Assessment, Health Departments
Presenting author's disclosure statement:Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have been the PI for CDC funded Oklahoma REACH 2010, the American Indian Centers of Excellence in the Elimination of Disparities and the Oklahoma Central Cancer Registry. Additionally I was the Principal Investigator of the NCI-funded OU Community Networks Program. I have worked in the field of Indian health care for over ten years. Other research interests include program evaluation research, community cancer prevention and control, as well as cancer surveillance.
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.
