Workforce Development: The Role of a Board of Health

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Workforce DevelopmentThe Role of a Board of
Health

• National Association of Local Boards
• of Health, 10th Annual Conference
• July 11, 2002
• J. Fred Agel, Southeast Region
• Trustee, Georgia
• Stacy Baker
• Chris Day

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Overview

• Whats driving workforce development today?
• What roles do boards play in assuring a competent
  and diverse workforce?
• What national tools and resources can help?
• What strategies have communities and
  organizations used to meet workforce needs?
• Discussion, questions, sharing of ideas

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Whats driving workforce development today?

• Bioterrorism preparedness
• Funding through Focus Area G - Education
  Training

Essential capabilities
Basic infrastructure
Source U.S. Centers for Disease control and
Prevention (CDC)
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Whats driving workforce development today?

• Recognition that assuring a competent workforce
  is an Essential Public Health Service
• (Public Health Functions Project, 1994)

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Whats driving workforce development today?

• Workforce performance - National Public Health
  Performance Standards Program
• Competency development - Core Competencies for
  Public Health Professionals

Council on Linkages Between Academia and Public
Health Practice
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Whats driving workforce development today?

• National objectives for a diverse and competent
  workforce
• Objective 1-8 Racial and ethnic representation
  in the health professions
• Objective 23-8 Agencies that incorporate
  competencies for Essential Public Health Services
  into personnel systems
• Objective 23-10 Continuing education and
  training by public health agencies
• Other objectives related to topical training

The nations prevention agenda
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BackgroundThe Public Health Workforce An
Agenda for the 21st Century

• Builds on the 1988 Institute of Medicine Report,
• The Future of Public Health
• Primary recommendations
• National, state, and local leadership
• Track workforce composition over time
• Use competency-based curriculum
• Develop distance learning systems
• www.health.gov/phfunctions/pubhlth.pdf
• www.health.gov/phfunctions/pubhlth.pdf

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What are the roles of boards of health?

• 1. Provide board of health leadership on
  workforce issues
• Put workforce issues on the boards agenda
• Make workforce issues a priority within the
  jurisdiction

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What are the roles of boards of health?

• 2. Oversee the development of plans for health
  workforce development
• Identify workforce composition, supply, skills,
  and capacity - current and future needs
• Develop strategies to measure and improve worker
  training, diversity, and performance
• Identify partners that can help prepare the
  workforce
• Coordinate with govt and private sector leaders

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What are the roles of boards of health?

• 3. Advise or set policies on licensing,
  credentialing, and training
• Health care workers in all settings
• Public health agency officials, employees,
  contractors, and volunteers
• 4. Advise or determine the budget and
  incentives for workforce development

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What are the roles of boards of health?

• 5. Oversee the evaluation of workforce
  development efforts and make changes based on
  findings
• What do we know about our workforce competence
  and needs?
• Where have we been successful?
• What can we do more effectively?

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Examples of Board Leadership

• DeKalb County
• Job descriptions and employee evaluation process
• Entry level pay and career ladder
• Budget increases for training
• Environmental health and internships
• Examples from Participants

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What tools and resources can assist boards?

• National Public Health Performance
• Standards Program
• Essential Service 8 - Workforce
• Model Standard for Oversight of Public Health
  Workforce Issues

Sample questions Does the board of health or
other governing body... G8.7 ...routinely assure
the development, implementation, and/or review of
policies supporting continuing education for
public health workers? G8.8 ...identify national,
state, or local resources that could be used for
workforce training, leadership development, or
continuing education?
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What tools and resources can assist boards?

• Core Competencies for Public Health
• Professionals - Council on Linkages
• Defines a competent public health workforce
• Consensus of 15 national organizations (including
  NALBOH), input of over 1,000 people nationwide
• Examples of uses online www.TrainingFinder.org/com
  petencies

• curriculum review and development
• discipline-specific competency development

• workforce needs assessment
• performance measurement
• personnel system refinement

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What tools and resources can assist boards?

• CDC Emergency Preparedness
• and Response Capacity
• Inventory
• State and local tools online (currently under
  revision)
• Checklist of items related to workforce training
  capacity such as
• satellite broadcast capability
• staff training coordinators and trainers

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What tools and resources can assist boards?
The Key Ingredient of the National Prevention
Agenda Workforce Development A Companion
Document to Healthy People 2010

• Focuses on objectives to diversify and train a
  competent public health workforce (Healthy People
  objectives 1-8, 23-8, 23-10)
• Numerous strategies, community examples,
  resources, and contacts across the country

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What tools and resources can assist boards?

• National, regional, and state workforce resources
• Centers for Public Health Preparedness (CDC)
• Public Health Training Centers (HRSA)
• National Laboratory Training Network
• Public Health Training Network
• TrainingFinder.org
• Regional Centers for Health Workforce Studies
• (HRSA)
• Public Health Leadership Institutes
• Universities and college programs
• Many more

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How have communities addressed workforce needs?