Competencies for Population Health Professionals
The Competencies for Population Health Professionals (Population Health Competencies) are a set of skills desirable for population health professionals. Based on the Core Competencies for Public Health Professionals (Core Competencies), the Population Health Competencies are primarily designed for hospital, health system, public health, healthcare, and other professionals engaged in assessment of population health needs and development, delivery, and improvement of population health programs, services, and practices. This may include activities related to community health needs assessments, community health improvement plans, implementation of community-based interventions, and coalition building.
The Population Health Competencies align with the Core Competencies, a set of foundational skills for public health professionals, and can help strengthen the connection between public health and healthcare. These competencies can be used to guide population health workforce development efforts, including the creation of training, workforce development and training plans, academic curricula, job descriptions, performance objectives, tools, and other resources to support the activities and growth of population health professionals.
Development of the Population Health Competencies was shaped by input from numerous population health professionals and organizations. Development of this competency set began in early 2015 during a session at the Association for Community Health Improvement (ACHI) National Conference in which participants identified competencies within the Core Competencies most relevant to hospital needs related to population health. Drafts of the Population Health Competencies were refined based on feedback from ACHI and Catholic Health Association members, Council on Linkages Between Academia and Public Health Practice member organizations and members of the Core Competencies Workgroup, the Association of American Medical Colleges, the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials’ Center for Population Health Strategies, and others within the population health community, as well as a review of community benefit, population health, and competencies resources.
For more information about the Population Health Competencies, please contact Kathleen Amos at kamos@phf.org or competencies@phf.org.
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