Developing boards of health: Findings from a training pilot

Boards of health and their members are critical stakeholders within the population health system and public health workforce. While boards of health across the country have varied structures and responsibilities, they all provide governance that is essential for advancing the goals and objectives of local public health. Boards of health are often comprised of members from interdisciplinary backgrounds. This session will present one method of developing board of health members to have a shared understanding of their role in public health in order to most effectively draw upon their diverse expertise. In 2015, the Michigan Public Health Training Center, housed at the University of Michigan School of Public Health, is piloting a training series entitled Governance in Action for Public Health. This course was designed in collaboration with the Michigan Public Health Institute.  Its intention is to equip new board of health members with a basic understanding of public health and provide them with practical suggestions for supporting the work of local public health agencies and their leadership. This 7-module online series draws upon the Six Functions of Public Health Governance established by the National Association of Local Boards of Health to frame areas of action for boards to take. This session will share preliminary findings from the pilot of the training among several boards of health in Michigan and Ohio. Findings will demonstrate the training’s impact on participants’ knowledge of key concepts and offer initial data on the effectiveness of the training in providing board members with strategies for their work. Pilot results are also expected to indicate what additional resources or future training areas would benefit board of health members. In the long term, this training will be made available nationally with the intention of supporting effective collaboration among those in public health governance, administration, and others.