Council on Linkages Meeting Summary
August 2016 |
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Council on Linkages Adopts Strategic Directions for 2016-2020
The Council on Linkages has adopted new Strategic Directions, 2016-2020 to guide its activities and ensure that the work in which it engages continues to meet ongoing and emerging needs within the public health community. Over the past five years, the Council on Linkages has made progress related to activities within each of the objective areas outlined in its Strategic Directions, 2011-2015, and in the fall of 2015, efforts were begun to update the Strategic Directions for 2016-2020. Since then, Council on Linkages member organizations have provided comments and suggestions that guided development of two draft iterations of the Strategic Directions for 2016-2020, and the final version, which focuses on helping to improve the performance of individuals and organizations in public health, with a specific focus on the workforce, was presented for adoption during the August 15th meeting. Questions about the Strategic Directions may be directed to Kathleen Amos at [email protected]. |
Final Comments on Draft AHD Research Agenda Due August 31st
Following the August 2015 Council on Linkages meeting, the Academic Health Department (AHD) Learning Community began its newest initiative, the development of an AHD Research Agenda. Led by Learning Community member Paul Campbell Erwin, MD, DrPH, University of Tennessee Department of Public Health, this research agenda explores questions related to measuring the value of AHD partnerships in enhancing public health and determining best practices critical to partnership success, and suggests opportunities for collaborative research on the structure, functions, and impacts of AHDs. An initial draft of the research agenda was shared with the Learning Community in early 2016 to begin gathering feedback and on the Public Health Foundation's website for public comment. Feedback received was used to refine the draft, and the revised draft was presented to the Council on Linkages during the August 15th meeting. Final comments on this draft are welcome by email to Kathleen Amos at [email protected] through August 31, 2016, and a Council on Linkages vote on approval of the final AHD Research Agenda is expected this fall. |
Public Health Infrastructure Topic Area of Healthy People Seeks Input on Objectives Related to Public Health Workforce
Healthy People 2020 provides national objectives focused on improving health across the country. These approximately 1,200 objectives are divided into 42 topic areas, one of which is Public Health Infrastructure (PHI). This topic area contains a variety of objectives aimed at ensuring the infrastructure necessary for providing essential public health services, including two objectives for which revisions have been proposed: PHI-4: Increase the proportion of 4-year colleges and universities that offer public health or related majors and/or minors; and PHI-6: Increase the proportion of 2-year colleges that offer public health or related associate degrees and/or certificate programs. During the August 15th meeting, guest speakers Liza Corso, MPA, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); Sirin Yaemsiri, PhD, National Center for Health Statistics; and Yen Lin, MPH, Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, shared proposed changes to refocus the objectives on number of "public health or related" degrees awarded at different levels: a) associate degrees or sub-baccalaureate certificates; b) bachelor degrees; and c) graduate degrees (master and doctoral). The National Center for Education Statistics' Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System would serve as a data source. Additional feedback is welcome, particularly on where or how to categorize post-baccalaureate certificates. Council on Linkages members can reach out to Ms. Corso at [email protected] with any questions or additional feedback on the workforce objectives. Additional details of the proposed changes and feedback questions are available in the meeting materials. |
In Other Business...
- The Council on Linkages welcomed Susan Swider, PhD, APHN-BC, FAAN, of Rush University, as the new representative for the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, and Christina Dokter, MA, PhD, of Michigan State University, as the new representative for the National Association of Local Boards of Health.
- The Council on Linkages voted to grant the Association for Community Health Improvement preliminary membership.
- Teresa Daub, MPH, CPH, Office for State, Tribal, Local and Territorial Support, and Pat Drehobl, RN, MPH, Center for Surveillance, Epidemiology, and Laboratory Services, CDC, provided an update on the status of funding for the Council on Linkages.
- The AHD Learning Community continues to grow in size and currently has approximately 600 members. In addition, Learning Community meetings continue to be held, with three webinar meetings in 2016 focusing on sharing examples of AHD partnerships in Kansas, Kentucky, and Alabama, and the draft AHD Research Agenda. Collections of AHD resources compiled by the Learning Community also continue to grow, including the list of AHD partnerships and the collection of partnership agreements. Contributions for these resources are welcome by email to Kathleen Amos at [email protected].
- The AHD Mentorship Program continues to develop, with eight existing mentor/mentee matches, and additional matches continuing to be created. This program helps to foster AHDs by building relationships between individuals involved in AHD efforts. Expressions of interest in participating in the program may be submitted online or to Janelle Nichols at [email protected].
- Use of the Core Competencies for Public Health Professionals (Core Competencies) and related tools and resources remains high, with the Core Competencies accessed nearly 96,000 times and tools and resources accessed more than 178,000 times through the Council on Linkages website since the release of the 2014 version of the Core Competencies.
- Work continues to develop tools and resources to support use of the Core Competencies, with the most recent resources including descriptions of the eight Core Competencies domains and a summary showing how the Core Competencies are used to support health department accreditation and performance improvement. The collections of workforce development plans and job descriptions that incorporate the Core Competencies have also expanded, and additional examples of these resources or others related to the Core Competences are welcome by email to Janelle Nichols at [email protected].
- 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 academia, and worked with three Council on Linkages member organizations to collect data on this objective in 2016. Of the academic institutions that provided information, 92% indicated that they have used the Core Competencies. A full summary of results of this data collection is available online.
- Information shared by nearly 12,000 individuals through the Council on Linkages' Public Health Workers Survey has been summarized in the report, Recruitment and Retention: What's Influencing the Decisions of Public Health Workers? Two articles using these data have also been published, one by the American Journal of Public Health in December 2015 and the other by the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice currently online ahead-of-print, and the dataset on which these results are based is available for further research. Information about accessing these data can be obtained online or by contacting Kathleen Amos at [email protected].
- 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. |
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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.
Questions and comments may be emailed to Academic/Practice 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. |
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