Council on Linkages Meeting Summary
September 2013
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Council on Linkages Votes to Proceed with Revision of the Core Competencies
Beginning in March 2013, the Council on Linkages initiated the process of reviewing the Core Competencies for Public Health Professionals (Core Competencies) to determine if revisions are necessary to ensure the Core Competencies continue to meet the needs of the public health workforce. This process involves gathering feedback from the public health community on the Core Competencies, and early feedback suggests that minor revisions may be beneficial. During this meeting, the Council on Linkages discussed the feedback received to date and voted to authorize the Core Competencies Workgroup to begin developing revisions. The Council on Linkages will continue to collect feedback through the end of December 2013 and welcomes input from all professionals, governing bodies, volunteers, students, and others engaged in public health. Opportunities for submitting feedback are described on the Core Competencies review process webpage. Revisions proposed by the Workgroup will be presented to the Council on Linkages for approval by the summer of 2014.
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Academic Health Department Learning Community Continues to Grow
Council on Linkages members were pleased to learn about the continued growth and activities of the Academic Health Department (AHD) Learning Community. There are now more than 300 public health and primary care professionals involved in this initiative. Introductory webinars were held in May 2013 to offer new members an overview of AHDs and the Learning Community, and an archive is available, both on TRAIN and at this direct archive link, for those interested in learning more. The Learning Community is now preparing for two meetings this fall, one by conference call on September 25th from 1-2:30 pm EDT to explore opportunities for AHDs to play a role in health reform and one in-person during the American Public Health Association (APHA) Annual Meeting in Boston, MA. The in-person meeting will be the third time the Learning Community has met face-to-face and will occur on November 5th from 4:30-6 pm. In addition to meetings, activities planned for the Learning Community include conducting a needs assessment to help identify activities, topics, and resources desired by members and refining the AHD definition. Interest in supporting AHD partnerships has also been expressed by APHA's Health Administration Section, which is sponsoring the in-person Learning Community meeting; the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice, which will be publishing a theme issue on AHDs in 2014; and the National Association of Local Boards of Health, which is considering AHDs as a topic for the April 2014 Ned E. Baker Lecture. |
Council on Linkages Discusses National Public Health Workforce Development Efforts
In July 2012, the Council on Linkages, under contract from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA; Contract No. HHSH250201100031C), completed the Public Health Workforce Development Inventory initiative. This initiative is the first comprehensive look at Council on Linkages member organizations' activities to support development of the public health workforce and covers efforts related to strategic planning, defining the public health workforce, training, learning management systems, research and data collection, recruitment and retention, tools and systems, advocacy, and partnerships and information sharing. Review of the preliminary findings during the Council on Linkages meeting led to vibrant discussion, and numerous questions for further exploration were raised and opportunities for sharing and collaboration were identified. A draft report summarizing the findings of this initiative has been submitted to HRSA for internal review. When the report becomes available, a link will be created from the Council on Linkages website and an announcement will be included in the Council on Linkages Update.
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Council on Linkages Plans for Online Public Health Training Impact Resource
Through the Public Health Training Impact initiative, a set of strategies and methods to help trainers, public health organizations, and sponsors of training to improve and measure the impact of training was developed. During the meeting, the Council on Linkages discussed plans for an online resource to provide access to this work. This resource will detail strategies and methods for training, linking these to relevant literature, definitions, tools, and examples. Users will be able to explore resources within each of five stages in the training process--assessment, motivation, design, delivery, and evaluation--as they are engaging in training activities. This online resource will be freely available to the public health community through the Council on Linkages website and is expected to launch in February 2014.
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Council on Linkages Celebrates 20 Years of Success and Plans for the Future
For more than 20 years, the Council on Linkages has been facilitating academic/practice collaboration to advance the field of public health. During this meeting, the Council on Linkages took time to celebrate its achievements over the past 20 years and also to consider its path forward. The Council on Linkages revisited its Strategic Directions, adopted in 2011, to ensure that its activities continue to meet the needs of the public health community through 2015. Setting the stage for this discussion, Jeff Levi, PhD, Executive Director of the Trust for America's Health, spoke with the Council on Linkages about the evolving public health environment and the public health workforce of the future. The Council on Linkages' Strategic Directions, 2011-2015 were largely reaffirmed, with only minor changes proposed for strategies and tactics. Proposed revisions will be drafted and submitted to the Council on Linkages for a vote on adoption in the near future.
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In Other Business...
- The Council on Linkages welcomed Mary Paterson, PhD, MSN of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN), Beverly Taylor, MD of Morehouse School of Medicine, and Philip Amuso, PhD, a former laboratory director with the Florida Department of Health Bureau of Public Health Laboratories, as the new representatives for AACN, the American College of Preventive Medicine, and the Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL), respectively.
- AACN was welcomed as the newest member organization of the Council on Linkages, having been granted preliminary membership in July 2013.
- APHL and the National Public Health Leadership Development Network were granted formal Council on Linkages membership.
- The Council on Linkages has secured continued funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Funding from HRSA for the Council on Linkages will conclude at the end of September 2013.
- CDC has released the report of its December 2012 Public Health Workforce Summit, convened as part of its Public Health Workforce Development Initiative.
- Brian Castrucci, Chief Program and Strategy Officer for the de Beaumont Foundation, provided the Council on Linkages with an overview of the Foundation's activities. The de Beaumont Foundation supports the public health field through strategic and engaged grantmaking, with a focus on initiatives that improve workforce capacity, infrastructure, and information and data management.
- The next Council on Linkages meeting will be held by conference call and will likely occur in early 2014.
Additional information about the meeting, including the agenda and other meeting materials, is available on the meeting webpage.
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Activities of the Council on Linkages Between Academia and Public Health Practice are supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and
the Health Resources and Services Administration. Questions and comments may be emailed to Council on Linkages Project Manager Kathleen Amos at [email protected]. To ensure delivery of this email to your inbox, please add [email protected] to your address book. |
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