Maintaining a Competent Public Health Workforce: Lessons Learned from Experiences with Public Health Accreditation Domain 8 Standards and Measures
Yeager, V.A.; Wharton, M.K.; Beitsch, L.M.
Journal of Public Health Management and Practice Jphmp 26(1): 57-66
2020
ISSN/ISBN: 1550-5022 PMID: 29324566 DOI: 10.1097/phh.0000000000000750Document Number: 623584
Public health accreditation is an ongoing national movement to improve the quality of public health departments and the public health system in the United States; however, calls have been made for more evidence regarding best practices in the accreditation process. The purpose of this work is to provide evidence about best practices in the accreditation process, specifically within the workforce development domain. It is the first in-depth investigation into workforce development using data collected by Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB). Using deidentified accreditation application data from PHAB, this study employs a mixed-methods approach to examining practices, lessons learned, challenges, and strategies pertaining to workforce development planning for Domain 8. United States. US state (n = 19) and local health departments (n = 115). Public Health Accreditation Board assessment scores for the workforce measures and the relationship between the health department's approach to meeting a PHAB measure criteria and the PHAB assessment score. Of the 9 different approaches identified as ways of encouraging the development of a sufficient number of qualified public health workers (version 1, measure 8.1.1), only 1 approach (local health department internship programs with schools of public health; B = 0.25, P < .03) was significantly related to higher scores. An opportunity for improvement identified for measure 8.2.1 was that plans missing a clear identification of the gap between current staff competencies and staff needs were associated with a 0.88-point decrease in the 4-point score (P < .001). Findings suggest that there are approaches adopted for meeting PHAB domain 8 measures that will impact the overall conformance assessment and score of a health department pursuing accreditation. There are several opportunities for improvement that health departments might consider when planning for accreditation or assessing their activities.