Council on Linkages Meeting Summary
August 2015 |
|
AHD Learning Community Continues to Grow in Membership and Activities
The Academic Health Department (AHD) Learning Community, now in its fifth year of operation, is nearing 500 members, and efforts continue to support these members in developing, maintaining, and expanding AHDs. The AHD Learning Community webpage has been redesigned to provide better access to Learning Community activities, a preliminary list of existing AHD partnerships has been made available online, a listserv has been established to facilitate communication within the Learning Community, and webinar meetings continue to be held and archived. The most recent webinar meeting focused on Public Health Accreditation Board accreditation and AHDs, and two additional meetings are being planned for late 2015. The newest Learning Community initiative, the AHD Mentorship Program, launched in June of this year. Led by Learning Community member Bryn Manzella, MPH, of the Jefferson County Department of Health (AL), this mentorship program aims to foster AHDs by building relationships between individuals involved in AHD efforts. The AHD Mentorship Program will connect individuals seeking guidance in an area of AHD development or operation with those having experience in that area, with a focus on creating ongoing relationships that support mutual learning and professional development. Information about the mentorship program, the volunteer mentors participating in the program, and how to become engaged as a mentor or mentee is available online, and questions may be sent to Kathleen Amos at [email protected]. |
Use of the Core Competencies Remains Strong
The Core Competencies for Public Health Professionals (Core Competencies) are designed as a foundational set of skills for the broad practice of public health and are being used in workforce development efforts across the country. Since the most recent version of the Core Competencies was released in June 2014, the Core Competencies have been accessed online nearly 50,000 times, and resources and tools related to the Core Competencies have been accessed an additional 79,000 times. Guided by the Core Competencies Workgroup, development of resources and tools to support public health professionals and organizations with using the Core Competencies continues. Recently developed resources and tools include archives of four webinars introducing the 2014 Core Competencies; two brief videos highlighting the Core Competencies and the eight Core Competencies domains; additions to the collections of job descriptions, workforce development plans, and examples of Core Competencies use; and a set of Frequently Asked Questions about the Core Competencies. Tools currently under development include a crosswalk of the 2014 Core Competencies and the Essential Public Health Services and a competency checklist for course providers. New Core Competencies resources and tools will be featured in a presentation at the upcoming American Public Health Association (APHA) Annual Meeting this fall. In addition to this presentation, a 90 minute session on public health workforce development, featuring speakers representing the Council on Education for Public Health, de Beaumont Foundation, and Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health, and moderated by Council on Linkages Chair C. William Keck, MD, MPH, will be held during the APHA Annual Meeting. For more information about any of these resources, tools, and upcoming presentations, or to contribute by sharing a Core Competencies-based job description or workforce development plan, or other example of Core Competencies use, please contact Janelle Nichols at [email protected]. |
Council on Education for Public Health Discusses Proposed Curriculum Criteria Revisions
The Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH), the accrediting body for schools and programs of public health, produces accreditation criteria for schools of public health, programs of public health, and standalone baccalaureate programs. CEPH is currently in the process of revising its graduate-level accreditation criteria and has released a draft of revised criteria related to curriculum for public review and comment. During the meeting, Mollie Mulvanity, MPH, CEPH's Deputy Director, provided an overview of the revision process, which is drawing on a variety of initiatives in the public health field, including the Core Competencies, and invited comments on the proposed curriculum criteria revisions. Council on Linkages member organizations were strongly encouraged to submit comments that both agree and disagree with proposed revisions. Additional information about the proposed revisions and submitting comments to CEPH is available on the CEPH website, and comments are welcome through September 18, 2015. |
In Other Business...
- Dr. Keck was re-elected Council on Linkages Chair in an election held earlier this month. Dr. Keck represents APHA on the Council on Linkages and is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at Northeast Ohio Medical University.
- The Council on Linkages voted to grant full membership status to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing.
- The Council on Linkages welcomed Beth Ransopher, RS, MEP, of Columbus Public Health (OH), as the new representative for the National Association of County and City Health Officials, and Susan Little, MSN, RN, APHN-BC, CPHQ, of the North Carolina Division of Public Health, as the new representative for the Quad Council of Public Health Nursing Organizations.
- Craig Thomas, PhD, Director, Division of Public Health Performance Improvement, Office for State, Tribal, Local and Territorial Support, and Patricia Simone, MD, Director, Division of Scientific Education and Professional Development, Center for Surveillance, Epidemiology, and Laboratory Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), shared with the Council on Linkages CDC's public health workforce development and public health system priorities and provided an update on the status of funding for the Council on Linkages.
- The Council on Linkages serves as the data source for Healthy People 2020 Public Health Infrastructure Objective 3 (PHI-3), which relates to use of the Core Competencies in academic curricula, and has been asked to provide data by the end of 2015. A data collection instrument has been drafted, but future work in this area is currently on hold due to funding constraints.
- The de Beaumont Foundation has established the National Consortium for Public Health Workforce Development (Consortium), to advance discussions and strategies for governmental public health workforce development issues and solutions. The Consortium is developing a report, which will be shared with the Council on Linkages when it becomes available.
- Over the coming months, the Council on Linkages will be reviewing its Strategic Directions, 2011-2015 to determine whether adjustments need to be made to guide the direction of the Council on Linkages into the future.
- Data collected through the Council on Linkages' Public Health Workers Survey continue to be shared with the public health community, with an article using these data expected to be published by the American Journal of Public Health later this year.
- The National Board of Public Health Examiners (NBPHE) has offered to provide a webinar for the Council on Linkages about its recent job task analysis for public health professionals.
- NBPHE has announced a pilot program to assess whether the knowledge and skills assessed by the Certified in Public Health exam are relevant to public health practice and can be acquired by individuals working as public health professionals. The pilot program will run from October 1-31, 2015 and is open to individuals who have a bachelor's degree and at least five subsequent years' public health work experience. Additional information is available on the NBPHE website.
- The next meeting of the Council on Linkages will likely occur by conference call or webinar, but has not yet been scheduled.
Additional information about the meeting, including the agenda and other meeting materials, is available on the meeting webpage. |
|
Activities of the Council on Linkages Between Academia and Public Health Practice are supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Questions and comments may be emailed to Council on Linkages Assistant Director Kathleen Amos at [email protected].
To ensure delivery of this email to your inbox, please add [email protected] to your address book. |
|
|
|