Kathleen Amos, MLIS, Assistant Director, Academic/Practice Linkages, Public Health Foundation

Curious about population health competencies? Interested in training opportunities that intersect public health and healthcare? I invite you to connect with the Public Health Foundation (PHF) in-person at the Public Health Workforce Forum this May in New Orleans, LA, to learn more about our work to support the public health and population health workforces and to get involved in our efforts to help build a stronger health system. PHF will share the latest updates on the Competencies for Population Health Professionals (Population Health Competencies) and related training data in a session on May 22, 2018 from 1:30-2:40pm, where our staff will be available to engage in discussion and explore how we can support your workforce development initiatives.

As hospitals and health departments are working together on community health improvement efforts, competencies and training that span public health and healthcare to support development of population health skills that benefit the health workforce as a whole have become critical. In anticipation of these increasing needs, PHF has been working to develop a set of Population Health Competencies, which are expected to be released this summer. We also have been exploring areas where shared training can offer value for both public health and healthcare professionals.

To assist the healthcare sector in developing skills and knowledge desirable for engaging in population health efforts, PHF has been working with hospitals and health systems to identify competencies relevant for population health that can address community health needs as well as bridge public health and healthcare. Starting from the Core Competencies for Public Health Professionals (Core Competencies), which are widely used in workforce development for the public health workforce, these Population Health Competencies have been crafted to describe a set of skills and knowledge for healthcare and public health professionals engaged in assessment of population health needs and development, delivery, and improvement of population health programs, services, and practices. With input from members of the Association for Community Health Improvement, Catholic Health Association, Association of American Medical Colleges, Council on Linkages Between Academia and Public Health Practice and its Core Competencies Workgroup, and other population health professionals, PHF is drawing on more than 20 years of experience with supporting the Core Competencies and other competency sets to offer this resource for population health workforce development.

In our experience, in addition to identifying competencies needed for success, it is important to consider the resources, including training, available to assist organizations and individuals with building skills and knowledge and integrating competencies into workforce development activities. With the TRAIN Learning Network providing a dynamic platform for more than 1.75 million learners from the health workforce to access training opportunities, PHF has an unparalleled ability to explore trainings of potential value to both public health and healthcare. Through TRAIN, PHF is exploring the courses that are being completed by both public health and healthcare professionals as one way to identify unique opportunities for building collaboration across sectors, and will be constructing training plans that can help professionals build the skills and knowledge described in the Population Health Competencies. TRAIN already contains an eight-module training plan on Community Health Assessment and Improvement Planning, available for your immediate use.

Interested in meeting during the Public Health Workforce Forum? Reach out to me at kamos@phf.org or Patti Abshier, Director, TRAIN Learning Network and Programs, at pabshier@phf.org to connect. Not attending the Forum? Learn more about the Population Health Competencies and TRAIN Learning Network online and share your questions and suggestions with us. We look forward to hearing from you!