All Aboard G-TRAIN! A Collaborative Approach to Assessing the Training Needs of Georgia’s Public

Health Workforce

Moose (Melissa) Alperin, MPH, CHESInstructional Innovations LectureRollins School of Public Health

May 15, 2003

Learning Objectives

By the end of this lecture, participants will be able to:

1. Describe G-TRAIN;

2. List relevant recommendations from the new IOM reports; and

3. Discuss the importance of Schools of Public Health and practice partners working together to address workforce development needs.

G-TRAIN

Georgia Training Resource And Inventory Network

Learning Management SystemUse of web technology to plan, organize, implement and manage all aspects of the learning process.

Method of assessing the training needs of Georgia’s public health workforce.

Collaborative project with Georgia Division of Public Health and Georgia’s 3 Centers for Public Health Preparedness (Emory, UGA, DeKalb County Board of Health).

TRAIN (G-TRAIN Project)

ENVIRONMENT (Context)

FRIENDS and OBSERVERS (Supporters and Interested Colleagues)

ENGINEER(s) (Architects)

CHALLENGES (Lessons Learned)

1. Context and Landscape

2. G-TRAIN Project

3. Supporters and Interested Colleagues

4. Architects

5. Lessons Learned

Environment(Context)

The Future of the Public’s Health in the 21st Century

(Nov 11, 2002)

Who Will Keep thePublic Healthy?

(Nov 2, 2002)

The Future of Public Health

(1988)

Healthy People 2010 (November 2000)

Report looked at public health: mission, current state, and barriers to improvement

“… effective public health activities are essential to the health and well-being of the American people, now and in the future. But public health is currently in disarray.”

Three overall recommendations: Mission of public health Governmental role in fulfilling mission Responsibilities unique to each level of

government (Federal, States, Localities)

1) The Future of Public Health

Selected recommendations: Schools of public health should establish firm practice links

with state and/or local public health agencies.

Education programs for public health professionals should be informed by comprehensive and current data on public health personnel and their employment opportunities and needs.

Schools of public health should undertake an expanded program of short courses to help upgrade the competence of [personnel engaged in public health w/o adequate preparation for their positions].

Short course offerings should provide opportunities for previously trained public health officials to keep up with advances in knowledge and practice.

2) Healthy People 2010

Focus Area 23 (Public Health Infrastructure):

Goal: Ensure that Federal, Tribal, State, and local health agencies have the infrastructure to provide essential public health services effectively.

– Increase the proportion of schools for public health workers that integrate into their curricula specific content to develop competency in the essential public health services. (23-9)

– Increase the proportion of Federal, Tribal, State, and local public health agencies that provide continuing education to develop competency in essential public health services for their employees. (23-10)

3) Future of the Public’s Health in the 21st Century

Report focuses on governmental public health infrastructure and contributions of public health partners:– Community– Health care delivery system– Employers and business– Media– Academia

Areas of action and change:– Adopting a focus on population health– Strengthening public health infrastructure– Building partnerships– Developing systems of accountability– Emphasizing evidence– Improving communication

Findings:

– Governmental public health infrastructure has been neglected and an overhaul of its components (e.g., workforce, laboratories, public health law) is needed to ensure quality of services and optimal performance.

– Communities have traditionally been passive recipients of services or subjects of research.

– While the health care delivery system interfaces in many areas with governmental public health agencies, the relationship is often strained or fragmented and inefficient.

Findings continued:

– Corporate community can positively or negatively shape the conditions for health through employment and the provision of health benefits, through environmental impacts and through products and services.

– Entertainment and news media have powerful effects on health behavior and health knowledge.

– Prevention and community-based collaborative research are often overlooked by educational institutions and research funders.

Selected Recommendations:

– Congress should designate funds to support the periodic assessment of workforce preparedness and the provision of needed training.

– The federal, state, and local government public health agencies should prioritize leadership training, support, and development within government public health agencies and the academic institutions that prepare the workforce.

– The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) should regularly assess the state of the nation’s public health system and its capacity to provide essential public health services to every community.

Selected Recommendations continued:

– Increasing integrated learning opportunities for students in public health and other related health science professions.

– Congress should increase funding for Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) programs that provide support for public health students, the Public Health Training Center, and the National and Regional Leadership Institutes that train public health and community leaders.

4) Who Will Keep the Public Healthy?

Report focuses on the education of public health professionals.

Committee charge: “Develop a framework for how, over the next 5-10 years, education, training, and research in schools of public health could be strengthened to meet the needs of future public health professionals to improve population-level health.”

Examines the roles of:– Schools of Public Health– Other Programs and Schools– Public Health Agencies

Ecological model: A model of health that emphasizes linkages and relationships among multiple factors (determinants) affecting health.

New content areas for all graduate-level public health programs/schools of public health:

– Informatics– Genomics– Communication– Cultural competence– Community-based participatory research– Global health– Policy and law– Public health ethics

Traditional Core Areas

– Epidemiology

– Biostatistics

– Environmental health

– Health services administration

– Social and behavioral sciences

Schools of Public Health:

– Schools of public health should embrace as a primary educational mission the preparation of individuals for positions of senior responsibility in public health practice, research, and training.

– Schools should establish new relationships with other health science schools, community organizations, health agencies, and groups within their region to foster transdisciplinary research.

– Schools should foster scientific and educational collaborations with other academic schools and departments, and should actively participate in community-based research, learning, and service.

Other Programs and Schools:

– Graduate MPH programs in public health should develop curricula emphasizing the importance and centrality of the ecological approach.

– All students in medical schools should receive basic public health training in the population-based prevention approaches to health.

– A significant number of medical school graduates should be fully trained in the ecological approach to public health at the MPH level.

Public Health Agencies:

– Health agencies should actively assess the public health workforce development needs in their own state or region.

– Engage in faculty and staff exchanges and collaborations with schools of public health and accredited public health education programs.

– Federal agencies should provide increased funding for the development of curricula, fellowship programs, academic/practice partnerships, and the increased participation of public health professionals in the education and training activities of schools and programs of public health.

Summary

Need to train public health workforce:– those w/o adequate preparation; and – those previously trained.

System for life-long (career-long) learning. Needs to be data-driven.

Schools of Public Health should partner with state, local, (and federal) public health agencies:– provide practice opportunities for faculty and students; and – provide access to formal education and continuing education for practitioner

Partnerships are essential to ensure the public’s health:– government academia health care delivery corporate community

entertainment and media

Additional funds are needed.

Current Status of Public Health

Move away from individual-based clinical services and focus on population-based services (assessment, policy development, assurance)

Globalization

Scientific and technological advances

Demographic changes

New threats:– Biological Weapons– Chemical Weapons– Nuclear, Radiological, and Related Weapons– SARS

Half a million public health workers and only 44% have formal, academic training in public health. *

* HRSA, Health personnel in the United States: Eighth report to congress (1992)

The Time Was Right

Focus Area G Money (Division of Public Health):

– Requirement to conduct training needs assessment of public health workforce

Emory Academic Center for Public Health Preparedness:

– Grant requirement to provide education and training for Georgia’s public health workforce in the area of BT

Recognition by DPH and the Rollins School of Public Health regarding the importance of collaboration between agencies.

Train(G-TRAIN Project)

G-TRAIN

Learning Management System

Method of assessing the training needs of Georgia’s public health workforce.

Overview of G-TRAIN

Users complete series of four personal profiles – plus a competency assessment (Phase I)

Sponsoring institutions complete course profiles. (Phase II)

Based on competency results, individual user can search for courses that meet their training needs. (Phase II)

Users can register for courses and update personal profiles. (Phases I/II)

Reports (Phases I/II)

Personal Profiles

1) General Profile: Contact Information Demographics Education Primary Professional Identity Job/Work Setting

2) Learning Formats Preference

3) Access to Technology

4) List of Terrorism and Related Topics

Competency Assessment

Origins of Georgia Competency Statements:

– Core Public Health Competencies

(Council on Linkages)– BT/Emergency Readiness Competencies

(University of Columbia)

Tiers:

– Clerical/secretarial or support staff, accounting/fiscal clerks, data entry staff, lab techs, etc.

– Direct service, programmatic staff, managers, administrators, laboratory professional, etc.

Learners Can …

Identify their strengths

Identify competency gaps and training needs

Find courses to fill gaps

Maintain personal training portfolio

State and Districts Can …

Identify strengths and competencies in Georgia’s public health workforce

Identify gaps in training

Develop training plans

Develop training activities

Produce reports

Monitor workforce composition

Course Providers Can …

Identify areas needed for training and evaluation

Make educational programs available to a wide audience

Facilitate and manage course registration, implementation, and the continuing education process

Guiding Principles

Web-based User friendly Competency-based

assessment Competencies can be

monitored over time (“surveillance”)

Individual enters and queries own data

Individual searches for courses

Password protected Administrator in each

district and at each sponsoring institution

Individual and aggregate reports

System that manages trainings, training profiles, and CE credits

Friends and Observers(Supporters and Interested Colleagues)

Steering Committee

Georgia Division of Public Health *

Rollins School of Public Health – Academic Center PHP *– Center for PH Preparedness and Research

University of Georgia Specialty Center

DeKalb County Advance Practice Center

Representatives from local public health

CDC* Primary Partners

Who Is Watching?

Engineers(Architects)

Content:– Rollins School of Public Health– Georgia Division of Public Health– District BT Training Coordinators– Representatives from local public health

Technical Side:– Rollins School of Public Health– Blackboard, Inc.

Challenges(Lessons Learned)

Collaboration is vital.– Different areas of expertise– Resources ($)

Leave egos at the door.

Take the time to do it right.– Competency statements– Pilot test!

Everything takes longer than you think it will.

Food, humor, and a lot of elbow grease are essential.

Final Destination:

A more competent workforce!

The Future of Public Health

http://www.nap.edu/books/0309038308/html/index.html

Healthy People 2010

http://www.healthypeople.gov/default.htm

Future of the Public’s Health in the 21st Century

http://www.nap.edu/books/030908704X/html/

Who Will Keep the Public Healthy?

http://www.nap.edu/books/030908542X/html/

Web Addresses