Resources & Tools

Health departments must have good, consistent, clear, crisp communications both internally and externally. A comprehensive and strategic communications plan for the department sets the foundation for staff to develop and execute communications effectively: to reach the target audience in the right...

Four Stages of Teamwork: Electronic Tuckman

August 9, 2013

Where are you in the four stages of group development? The Electronic Tuckman tool and accompanying Tuckman Survey Scoring Template (which references the questions in the tool) were developed by Public Health Foundation (PHF) quality improvement experts Sonja Armbruster, Erin Barkema, and John W....

3-Step Competency Prioritization Sequence

February 13, 2012

The Core Competencies for Public Health Professionals (Core Competencies) define a broad array of professional development areas a public health organization may wish to consider in designing and executing a workforce development plan—a key requirement for Public Health Department Accreditation. However,...

How to Focus Your Training and Professional Development Efforts to Improve the Skills of Your Public Health Organization (2011 APHA Annual Meeting)

November 21, 2011

This presentation addresses the use of a quality improvement tool, the prioritization matrix, to identify workforce development needs. In this example, the relative importance of the Core Competencies for Public Health Professionals domains is considered in order to help public health organizations focus resources...

Assessing and Building a Culture of Quality Improvement in Your Agency Presentation

July 12, 2011

These slides provide an overview of the culture of quality improvement (QI), the steps needed to build and change organizational culture, becoming aware of the six indicators of a culture, and how to rate an organization’s culture using a radar chart. These slides are excerpted from a presentation...

Conduct a Personalized SWOT: Align Yourself for Professional Growth

June 16, 2011

This free resource offers tools and methods for individuals to learn how to fully promote their talents, skills, and abilities within their organization. The personal SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) is a useful tool for investigating conflict between individual and organizational...

Healthy People 2010 Information Access Project

September 10, 2010

In 2001, PHF assisted the National Library of Medicine (NLM) in the development of the Healthy People 2010 Information Access Project, which provides easily accessible information on evidence-based strategies related to the Healthy People 2010 objectives. By clicking on specific search strategies,...

Livingston County Department of Health, NY - Using the Core Competencies for Public Health Professionals to Improve Performance

September 2, 2010

As part of a Quality Improvement (QI) initiative, Livingston County Department of Health in New York has used the Core Competencies for Public Health Professionals in two ways: 1) to improve its performance appraisal form; and, 2) to conduct a workforce needs assessment. Download this document to learn how...

Using PDCA Cycle to Improve Skills in Core Competencies

August 30, 2010

In 2007, Olmsted County Public Health Services (OCPHS) in Minnesota used the Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) Cycle to improve their employee’s knowledge in Core Competencies for Public Health Professionals (Core Competencies). Using the four stages of PDCA cycle, OPCHS integrated the Core Competencies into...

Quality Improvement (QI) Quick Guide

July 16, 2010

With a contribution from the National Library of Medicine, the Public Health Foundation (PHF) developed a Quality Improvement (QI) Quick Guide for public health practitioners, which was launched in 2010. The QI Quick Guide consists of a Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) Tutorial, a Quick Quiz, and tailored resources. The...

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