​Sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and hosted by the University of Kentucky’s College of Public Health, the 2012 Public Health Services and Systems Research (PHSSR) Keeneland Conference focused on further developing an “evidence base … [that] will allow researchers to optimize the use of scarce resources to support the development, evaluation, and improvement of the public health system’s organization, financing, and delivery of services.”¹  Popular session topics at the fifth annual Keeneland Conference covered concepts and issues vital to the future of PHSSR, including quality improvement, finance, and technology, data, and methods. PHSSR continues to build a research base that offers decision-makers extensive insight into and support for policy decisions that seek to promote healthier people and communities.

PHSSR can be enhanced by cross-organizational collaboration, such as that which occurs within the public health practice-based research networks (PBRNs) or academic health departments (AHDs), as well as between PBRNs and AHDs. Council on Linkages Between Academia and Public Health Practice Chair C. William Keck, MD, MPH and Project Manager Kathleen Amos, MLIS met with the public health PBRN grantees during their annual meeting at the Keeneland Conference to discuss advances in the AHD movement and introduce the AHD Learning Community. With the assistance of two AHD Learning Community members who are also leaders within public health PBRNs, Paul Campbell Erwin, MD, DrPH of the University of Tennessee’s Department of Public Health and William C. Livingood, PhD of the Duval County Health Department in Florida, similarities and links between AHDs and PBRNs were highlighted. This discussion set the stage for exploring opportunities to strengthen the connection between the AHD Learning Community and the public health PBRNs, providing support for the development of practice-based evidence and for health departments seeking accreditation. As highlighted by the Public Health Accreditation Board in Domain 10 of its Standards & Measures Version 1.0², participating in partnerships with academic institutions and PBRNs not only ensures that health departments have access to the expertise to apply research findings, but also stimulates innovations in both research and practice.

Meanwhile, TRAIN was presented on and discussed during the Public Health Datasets & Research Agenda session in a two-part presentation titled “Data on Public Health Training and Education: Improving Access for Research.” Ilya Plotkin, TRAIN Program Administrator at Public Health Foundation, led the first part, reviewing the history of TRAIN, illustrating the growth of the TRAIN network, and introducing the tailored TRAIN Datasets (Demographics on TRAIN Learners, Information on TRAIN Courses and Competencies, and TRAIN Courses by Competencies and Professional Roles) and TRAIN Data Dictionary, the new resources made available to researchers through a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation-supported initiative focusing on how TRAIN data can be better utilized for PHSSR. Dr. Jeff Jones, Ph.D., of the University of Kentucky’s College of Public Health, led part two by providing an overview of the demographic data, outlining the datasets’ limitations, and summarizing the potential of TRAIN data. The approximately fifteen attendees provided valuable discussion ideas and questions, including whether enough data exists to geomap training locations and how states and organizations can go about joining the TRAIN network.

To learn more about TRAIN and PHSSR, visit PHF’s PHSSR page, or download the TRAIN presentations (PDF) from the 2012 PHSSR Keeneland Conference.

1. Center for Public Health Systems and Services Research. http://www.publichealthsystems.org/cphssr.

2. Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB). http://www.phaboard.org/wp-content/uploads/PHAB-Standards-and-Measures-Version-1.0.pdf.