Nonpharmaceutical interventions for pandemic influenza: An assessment of communication, training, and guidance needs of state, tribal, local, and territorial public health officials

State, tribal, local, and territorial public health officials (STLTs) play a key role in communicating, implementing, and monitoring nonpharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) for pandemic influenza control. We conducted an assessment to identify the NPI communication, training, and guidance needs of STLTs. The needs assessment was implemented during 2012 in two phases. During Phase 1, key informant interviews were conducted with representatives (n=8) from 5 national partner organizations that represent state, tribal, local and territorial health departments. The interviews helped identify common NPI-related issues and informed the development of a web-based survey. During Phase 2, 346 members of these organizations received the survey and 267 completed the survey (77% response rate). The majority (78%) were from local or tribal health departments. The top areas of need for NPI communication, training, and guidance were identified based on weighted rankings. For NPI communication, our main finding was 71% of respondents preferred communicating with the general public as a primary audience. For NPI training, our main finding was 42% of respondents wanted information on NPI strategies and triggers for using NPIs. For NPI guidance, our main finding was 59% of respondents wanted information on triggers for implementing NPIs. The results of the assessment will inform the revision of NPI materials, development of an NPI web-based training course for STLTs, update of the 2007 Interim Pre-pandemic Planning Guidance: Community Strategy for Pandemic Influenza Mitigation in the United States, and development of a dissemination plan for NPI materials and guidance documents.