​The Association for Community Health Improvement (ACHI) 2015 National Conference will be held March 4-6, 2015, in Dallas, Texas. Community health, community benefit, and population health professionals will spend the three-day event building the next generation of healthy communities.

The Public Health Foundation (PHF) will be conducting an interactive session and exhibiting valuable resources and tools for improving population health at this year’s event.

Interactive Session – Core Competencies for Public Health Professionals
On Friday, March 6, 2015 at 7:45am, PHF will hold an interactive session titled Aligning Public Health and Health Care—Core Competencies for Population Health Professionals, which will be led by the organization’s President, Ron Bialek, and Senior Quality Advisor, Jack Moran.

The Core Competencies for Public Health Professionals (Core Competencies) are a consensus set of skills desirable for the broad practice of population health. They have been used by hundreds organizations in workforce development efforts since their initial adoption in 2001 by the Council on Linkages Between Academia and Public Health Practice (Council on Linkages). The Core Competencies were revised in 2014 to ensure they keep pace with changes in the field of population health, such as the increasing need for health care and public health to more routinely and effectively align efforts to help improve the health of communities.

During this interactive session, the Core Competencies will be discussed along with examples of how they are being used. Session participants will have the opportunity to work in small groups to:

1. Identify specific population health competencies that may be most relevant to hospitals
2. Prioritize population health competencies that may be most needed in the short-term to address hospital needs and requirements
3. Identify gaps in current population health skills and competence where training may be beneficial

Following the group work, opportunities for obtaining training in the priority competency areas identified by participants will be discussed. The output from this session will be shared with public health and health care organizations to help ensure that population health training is available and accessible for hospital professionals.

Exhibit Booth
In the exhibit hall, PHF will provide materials and information for professionals responsible for improving population health. Resources and tools will include:

• Instructions for how to create a free account on TRAIN, the nation’s premier learning management network for professionals who protect the public’s health
• A fact sheet for hospitals on the value of collaborating with health departments on community health assessments, health improvement plans, and implementation activities
• A catalog of customized technical assistance and training services to improve population health and align priorities between health care and public health systems
• Examples of using a driver diagram to improve population health in areas such as antibiotic stewardship and oral health care
• Copies of the Core Competencies for Public Health Professionals
• Subscription opportunities to join PHF’s email newsletter mailing lists

Connect with PHF before, during, or after the event by leaving a comment on our website, connecting with us on Twitter, or posting a message to the PHF Facebook page to start or continue a discussion with other public health professionals and organizations.