2015 APHA Annual Meeting & Expo

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Recorded Annual Meeting Presentations (RAMP) are now available for purchase.
Only $90 for presenters, $140 for registered attendees and $200 for non-attendees.

Online Program

334272
Transformative force of health reform: An analysis of national MCH workforce training needs


Wednesday, November 4, 2015 : 9:10 a.m. - 9:20 a.m.

Amy Mullenix, MSPH, MSW, The National MCH Workforce Development Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
Lorie Chesnut, MPH, DrPH, Department of Epidemiology, University of Kentucky College of Public Health, Lexington, KY
Joyce Robl, EdD, MS, CGC, Division of Maternal and Child Health, Kentucky Department for Public Health, Frankfort, KY
Dorothy Cilenti, DrPH, MPH, MSW, The National MCH Workforce Development Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
Anita Farel, DrPH, Department of Maternal and Child Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
Background: State MCH programs are uniquely positioned to lead and influence major health system reforms that affect women, children and families. Yet the public health workforce faces challenges in the implementation of health reform. The results of this study illuminate more specifically the training needs to be addressed by the National MCH Workforce Development Center. The Center was established in 2014 to leverage health reform to advance maternal and child health programs and outcomes.

Methods: Data sources included: 1) qualitative data from 190 surveys from the 2012 Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs annual conference, 2) Maternal and Child Health Services Title V block grant state narratives (2011-2014), and 3) key informant interviews with state and federal MCH program staff.

Results: Title V program staff described health reform as a transformative force, especially coming on the heels of program transition from direct services to population health assurance. Three primary themes emerged: the evolving roles of MCH professionals, funding uncertainty, and the safety net role of public health systems in era of health reform. Workforce needs identified included information about health reform and skill-development in adaptive leadership, systems integration, quality improvement and return on investment.

Conclusions: This session will provide an analysis of the current public health MCH environment and describe how the challenge of health reform implementation impacts the workforce needs of the MCH community. The session will also include profiles of state MCH programs that have collaborated with the National MCH Workforce Development Center to enhance their skills.

Learning Areas:

Conduct evaluation related to programs, research, and other areas of practice
Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs
Public health or related public policy
Public health or related research
Systems thinking models (conceptual and theoretical models), applications related to public health

Learning Objectives:
Describe three main challenges for the MCH workforce resulting from health reform implementation Identify at least four specific MCH workforce training needs resulting from health reform implementation Identify a workforce development resource available to state MCH programs to assist in providing knowledge and skill development to address the identified needs

Keyword(s): Workforce Development, Needs Assessment

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I participated in the analysis of the needs assessment and supporting report.
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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