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News from the Public Health Foundation (PHF) )
June 25, 2009
In this issue  

PHF E-News brings you the latest ideas and tools for quality improvement and workforce development in public health.

Revised Core Competencies for Public Health Professionals Adopted by Council on Linkages!!!


On June 11, 2009 the Council on Linkages Between Academia and Public Health Practice voted to unanimously adopt the revised version of Core Competencies for Public Health Professionals. The revised Core Competencies address changes in the practice of public health and reflect the input received from more than 600 public health professionals through an extensive review process. Special thanks to the Core Competencies Workgroup for its tremendous effort throughout the revision process.

Click here to learn more about the Council on Linkages. If you are interested in reading the Public Health Faculty/Agency Forum, the report that resulted in creation of the Council on Linkages and the initial set of "Universal Competencies," please visit the Public Health Foundation's online store.

Facts about Use of the Core Competencies

Health departments and academic institutions throughout the United States are using the Core Competencies.
  • A 2005 NACCHO Profile Study revealed that:
    • 72% of local health departments are familiar with the Core Competencies
    • 65% of local health departments familiar with the Core Competencies report that they use them
  • At least 22 states use the Core Competencies as part of their TRAIN learning management system, which serves over 275,000 registered learners. Using the Core Competencies, you can search for hundreds of courses on TRAIN.
  • A 2006 Council on Linkages Survey determined that over 91% of accredited academic institutions providing public health training (schools of public health, graduate public health programs, and public health nursing programs) use the Core Competencies.

The Core Competencies are being used in workforce development efforts for activities such as: workforce competency assessments, performance reviews/evaluations, performance objectives, the creation of job descriptions, training plans, workforce development plans, accreditation preparation, curriculum review and development, and development of discipline-specific competencies. As we try to build a competent workforce, why not join other public health professionals by using the Core Competences for workforce development in your public health organization?

Surveying the Governmental Public Health Workforce

In its efforts to develop evidence-based recruitment and retention strategies for the governmental public health workforce, the Council on Linkages will be surveying the public health workforce to learn more about the ways individuals enter governmental public health, and why they stay in and leave this workforce. The survey will be disseminated to registered users of TRAIN, the public health learning management system developed by the Public Health Foundation. Currently, there are over 275,000 registered users of TRAIN, from all 50 states. The draft survey can be viewed online. To learn more about the Council on Linkages Pipeline Workgroup, click here.

The Public Health Quality Improvement Handbook

Public

Building on the success of our Public Health Memory Jogger, PHF in partnership with the American Society for Quality released The Public Health Quality Improvement Handbook in May 2009. The Handbook, with contributions from many of our public health colleagues, contains 28 chapters chock full of QI stories, tools, methods, and practical applications in public health. The Handbook is being offered at a 25 percent discount through PHF's online store. This is a limited time offer, so please spread the word among your colleagues.




 
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