Online Program

333240
State and Local Collaboration for Coordinated Chronic Disease Prevention: A Qualitative Analysis


Tuesday, November 3, 2015 : 8:30 a.m. - 8:45 a.m.

Alecia Kennedy, MPH, Humana Foundation, Louisville, KY
Richard W. Wilson, DHSc, MPH, Health Promotion & Behavioral Sciences, School of Public Health and Information Sciences, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY
Sue Thomas-Cox, Kentucky Department for Public Health, Frankfort, KY
In 2011, the Kentucky Department for Public Health was funded by CDC for a Coordinated Chronic Disease Prevention project.  The principle objective of the project was to develop, with broad state-wide participation of stakeholders, a comprehensive plan to address key chronic diseases and unhealthy behaviors. The plan was to include a strong emphasis on policy measures including environmental change, health systems interventions and community-clinical linkages, made possible by coalitions and stakeholder advocacy. A secondary objective of the project was to improve the efficiency with which public health leaders in state government use their time and resources, in partnership with collaborators at the local level.  This project reports on an effort to understand the nature and extent of collaboration between state categorical program coordinators and teams with their community partners.  Qualitative data were gathered through structured interviews with 11 categorical program coordinators in the Kentucky Department for Public Health. Interviews were recorded and transcribed for coding of themes, in order to identify perceived benefits and barriers of this collaboration, and to infer lessons for the future, to make this prevention work increasingly effective and efficient.  The presentation will outline the frequency and type of interaction among the state coordinators, as well as with local health departments and other partner organizations at the local level.  There will be a thorough review of the perceived benefits and barriers to collaboration, followed by recommendations for program managers.  To the extent that many other state public health departments are organized in similar ways, data findings are generalizable to other jurisdictions.

Learning Areas:

Chronic disease management and prevention
Conduct evaluation related to programs, research, and other areas of practice
Public health administration or related administration
Public health or related organizational policy, standards, or other guidelines

Learning Objectives:
Identify and explain collaboration between chronic disease categorical program coordinators in a state public health agency and their external community partners. Discuss the perceived benefits and barriers to such collaboration. Assess recommendations for improving collaboration in chronic disease programs.

Keyword(s): Chronic Disease Prevention

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I hold a Master of Public Health from the University of Louisville with a concentration in Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences. For four years, I was a public health consultant specializing in evaluation and qualitative data collection in community settings. Additionally, I conducted the interviews for this project and have an ongoing interest in collaboration and chronic disease prevention in my current role in the field of health-oriented philanthropy.
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.