Council on Linkages Meeting Summary (March 2022)

Advancing the public health workforce to achieve organizational excellence

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Topic: Council on Linkages, Performance Management and Quality Improvement, Workforce Development

Date: 4/21/2022

Council on Linkages Meeting Summary

March 2022

The Council on Linkages Between Academia and Public Health Practice (Council on Linkages) held its first meeting of the year on March 31 ^st. More than 120 Council on Linkages members and friends participated in this virtual meeting to discuss current Council on Linkages initiatives and plans for the future.

Supporting the Transition to the 2021 Core Competencies for Public Health Professionals

Revision of the Core Competencies for Public Health Professionals (Core Competencies), a consensus set of foundational or crosscutting knowledge and skills for the broad practice of public health, was completed in the fall of 2021, and work has begun to support public health professionals and organizations in transitioning to this newest version of the Core Competencies, including sharing the revised version, addressing questions, and updating and developing resources and tools that support use of the Core Competencies. Webinars introducing the revised Core Competencies were held in December 2021 and March 2022, and the Core Competencies were shared during the 2021 Public Health Learning Forum and American Public Health Association (APHA) Annual Meeting, the 2022 Open Forum: Next Generation, the Region 2 Public Health Training Center’s Log-in2Learn webinar series, and the National Indian Health Board's Tribal Accreditation Learning Community webinar series, among other events. Updated competency assessment tools are now available, and a crosswalk showing how the 2014 and 2021 versions of the Core Competencies relate to each other is under development. For more information about the Core Competencies, please visit the Core Competencies webpage or contact Kathleen Amos at [email protected].

Academic Health Department Learning Community Continues to Strengthen the Workforce

With more than 1,200 members from across the country, the Academic Health Department (AHD) Learning Community continues to provide support for organizations developing, sustaining, and expanding AHD partnerships. In October 2021, AHD partnerships were featured during sessions at both the Region VII AHD Conference and APHA Annual Meeting. The AHD Webinar Series also continues to highlight AHD partnerships, with the latest webinar in this series focusing on Envisioning and Building the Public Health Workforce of the Future: The Critical Role of Partnerships. Building on the successful APHA Annual Meeting session, this February 2022 webinar highlighted how AHD partnerships have enhanced the COVID-19 response in communities across the country and can strengthen health departments as we envision and build the public health workforce of the future. AHD partnerships will again take center stage at an upcoming webinar hosted by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing on April 27, 2022: Partnerships Between Academic Health Departments and Schools of Nursing. For more details about the AHD Learning Community, please visit the Learning Community webpage or contact Kathleen Amos at [email protected].

New Funding to Rebuild the Public Health Workforce

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will be releasing a landmark Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) to help reinvigorate and rebuild public health infrastructure, Strengthening U.S. Public Health Infrastructure, Workforce, and Data Systems. This $3 billion five-year initiative will support “critical infrastructure needs related to workforce, foundational capabilities, data modernization, and physical infrastructure” and fund organizations under two components. Component A grantees will be health departments; Component B grantees will support the successful implementation of Component A grantees’ activities. To learn more and stay informed about this NOFO, please visit the CDC website.

CSTE Revising the Applied Epidemiology Competencies

The Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE) is currently updating the Competencies for Applied Epidemiologists in Governmental Public Health Agencies (Applied Epidemiology Competencies), with particular emphasis on data science; communication science; pandemic preparedness; and diversity, equity, and inclusion. Alignment with the newly revised Core Competencies is a key goal of this revision. To learn more or share comments, please visit the revision webpage or contact CSTE at [email protected].

Release of the Public Health Accreditation Board Standards & Measures Version 2022

Following a rigorous revision process, Version 2022 of the Standards & Measures for initial accreditation and reaccreditation were released by the Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB) in March 2022. The Standards & Measures serve as the official guidance for national public health department accreditation. Among other highlights, Version 2022 features 10 domains, aligning with the 10 Essential Public Health Services; 90 fewer required documents for initial accreditation; embedding of the Foundational Capabilities; emphasis on health equity; and updated preparedness requirements based on lessons learned from COVID-19. Workforce development and academic/practice partnerships are highlighted throughout Version 2022, appearing in 14 standards across the 10 domains. Please visit the PHAB website for additional information about Version 2022.

In Other Business…

The Council on Linkages welcomed John Wiesman, DrPH, MPH, as the new representative for the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials. A current list of Council on Linkages member organizations and representatives is available on the Council on Linkages website.
The Healthy People 2030 Public Health Infrastructure topic area contains objectives related to increasing the proportion of public health agencies that use the Core Competencies for continuing education for personnel. Updates are underway that elevate the objectives focused on Tribal and territorial public health agencies from developmental to core objectives.
APHA is accepting abstracts for the 2022 Annual Meeting taking place in Boston, MA from November 6-9, 2022. Members of the public health workforce, including staff at state, local, Tribal, and territorial health departments and faculty, staff, and students at academic institutions, are invited to submit abstracts for the Academic and Practice Linkages in Public Health Caucus sessions, sponsored by the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health and PHAB.
Registration is now open for the 2022 Public Health Improvement Training taking place virtually from June 6-8, 2022. PHIT offers training workshops in performance improvement topics such as quality improvement, performance management, accreditation, community health assessment and improvement planning, strategic planning, workforce development, and resource management.
Council on Linkages meetings have been scheduled for 2022, and the next meeting will take place on June 24 ^th. Additional meetings will occur on September 29 ^th and November 30 ^th.

Additional information about the meeting, including the agenda and other meeting materials, is available on the meeting webpage.

Questions and comments may be emailed to Kathleen Amos at [email protected].

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