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• Overview
• Consultation on the design of your Collaborative
• Staff and Team Training
• Train-the-"Helper" Program
• Technical Assistance

The Public Health Foundation (PHF) is ready to assist you in your Collaborative’s efforts by providing training, coaching, and consulting services. To date PHF, has provided quality improvement (QI) assistance to a dozen states and over 1,500 public health professionals.

These services can be tailored to incorporate QI techniques into existing performance and capacity improvement efforts, or be designed to initiate a new QI process for your Collaborative. The ultimate goal of these QI services is to help increase the ability of public health agencies to protect and improve the health of the people in the communities they serve.

PHF has a cadre of experienced public health trainers, facilitators, and consultants who will work with your Collaborative to ensure that the QI training and consulting interventions are focused on your specific needs.

Below is a brief description of some of the PHF’s services offered to help assist your Collaborative’s efforts. Contact PHF to discuss how services can be tailored to meet your specific needs.

Consultation on the design of your Collaborative

PHF will provide consulting assistance in the planning of your Collaborative, including the overall design of your approach to achieve results, selection of improvement projects, use of QI and problem solving models, communication of the program, engagement of leaders, evaluation of Collaborative activities, or other guidance based on PHF’s experience and best practices and your Collaborative’s needs.

PHF can provide the following services to help you design your Collaborative:

• Assess Readiness to determine training and consulting needs
• Select Improvement Projects
• Plan Project/Program Activities
• Prioritize Issues
• Communicate the Plan
• Train Leadership Teams
• Review Implementation Plan

Staff and Team Training

PHF will provide one to three day QI training programs that prepare your staff to have the skills and knowledge to function effectively on QI teams and make improvements that lead to better outcomes. Topics that are covered in this training include:

• Introduction to QI Principles for Addressing Health Problems
• How QI Can Help Public Health Teams Achieve Results
• Overview of Quality Improvement Methods
• Using the Plan-Do-Check-Act Cycle
• Prioritizing Key Problems to Address
• Identifying “Root Causes” of Public Health Problems
• Flowchart the Process
• Error Proofing the Improved Process
• Designing a Rapid Cycle Test for Potential Improvements
• Instituting a Culture of Quality in Daily Work
• Redesigning a Process Versus Continuous Improvement
• Roles and Responsibilities of Team Member

Train-the-"Helper" Program

PHF will lead a three part sequential series of on-site training to prepare local QI “helpers” to provide technical assistance and support to your Collaborative’s partners. The on-site training sessions are scheduled with each individual Collaborative to meet its specific needs and maximize success. While PHF believes that this three part series will provide the best possible training for those assisting others within your Collaborative, this program can be modified to integrate with other programs you may be providing your local QI advisors.

The Train-the-Helper program will offer to participants a mixture of training, practicing QI techniques, and QI coaching following the on-site program. The Train-the-Helper program is designed to develop and build a cadre of in-house experts with the knowledge and skills to effectively assist your Collaborative and its teams. A certificate will be provided for satisfactory completion of the program.

Part 1 will provide two days of basic and intermediate skills training on the application of QI concepts and tools to help solve public health problems. Elements of the curriculum include:

• Basic Tools of QI
• PDCA and SDCA Cycles
• Continuous Improvement or Process Redesign
• Collecting and Analyzing Data
• Defining Critical Processes
• Customer Obsession and Levels of Customer Satisfaction
• Mapping Customer-Supplier Relationships
• Finding Improvement Opportunities
• Implementing Improvement Opportunities
• Being an Effective Team
• Making Decisions in a Team Environment
• Reporting of Results

Part 2 will provide two days of advanced training, practice, observation, and feedback on the facilitation of QI tools, team coaching, and the roles of staff consultants. This will include:

• Facilitating for Results in the Workplace
• Advanced QI Tools Use
• Conflict Management and Negotiating Skills
• Listening and Effective Communication
• Change Management Concepts
• Coaching Skills

Part 3 will provide two days of on-site training for staff that have completed the 4 day program and want to refresh and increase their skills as QI coaches. This program will help staff consultants take their QI coaching to the next level and expand their expertise in the use of additional tools and concepts for solving public health problems. Participants will be given training in presentation of methods and then assist the assigned faculty for segments of this training session. This program will be customized around the needs of the participants and the Collaborative.

Ongoing coaching from a distance for those going through this program can be provided as well as periodic partial or full-day refresher training programs. In addition, to help create a learning community of “helpers,” PHF can facilitate periodic conference calls with those providing QI assistance for your Collaborative. These conference calls can be used for exchanging of ideas, lessons learned, and additional training on QI techniques and tools that may be of particular use to the Collaborative’s ongoing efforts.

Examples of on-site technical assistance provided by PHF:

• Project team consultation, such as participating in and/or facilitating a full team meeting, and reviewing and commenting on team products to overcome obstacles to achieving measurable results.
• One-on-one consultation to assist collaborative leaders in guiding their teams, selecting the right tools, and overcoming obstacles.
• Facilitation of sessions to help teams “jump start” their QI activities.

Technical assistance at a distance also is offered by PHF to provide your Collaborative and/or individual team members with longer-term assistance.

Contact Jackie Carden, Associate Director for Performance Improvement at the Public Health Foundation, at 202-218-4415 or jcarden@phf.org for further information on our offerings that are designed to keep your Collaborative on the cutting edge of Quality Improvement.

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