Recent public health literature contains calls for collaborative public health interventions and for leaders capable of guiding them. The National Public Health Leadership Institute aims to develop collaborative leaders and to strengthen networks of leaders who share knowledge and jointly address public health problems. Evaluation results show that completing the institute training increases collaborative leadership and builds knowledge-sharing and problem-solving networks. These practices and networks strengthen interorganizational relationships, coalitions, services, programs, and policies. Intensive team-and project-based learning are key to the program's impact.

Cigarette smoking is common among homeless individuals, but little is known about health care providers' practices and attitudes in addressing tobacco use in this vulnerable population. We surveyed members of the Health Care for the Homeless Clinicians' Network, a nationwide multidisciplinary organization, to assess their tobacco screening practices, attitudes toward addressing tobacco use, and experience providing tobacco products to homeless individuals. Of 231 clinicians who completed the survey, 86.5% reported routinely screening for tobacco use. Although 74.4% of respondents viewed tobacco use as one of the most important health issues among homeless people, rates of agreement with this and other attitudes toward tobacco use in the setting of homelessness varied significantly by clinical discipline. Overall, 15.3% of respondents reported having ever given patients tobacco to build trust or promote adherence to care. Addressing providers' attitudinal variations and tobacco distribution practices may foster a more consistent anti-smoking message for this population.

A diverse group of panelists met for one day on October 21, 2009, in Washington, DC, for the purpose of addressing the high tobacco use prevalence rates in homeless populations; identifying appropriate policy, cessation practices and models for implementation in this population; and providing targeted recommendations for researchers, homeless service providers, tobacco control advocates, and policy makers. The panel was convened by Break Free Alliance, one of six national networks funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Office on Smoking and Health. The panelists worked through a process of problem identification, generation of responses, analysis and prioritization, development of recommendations, and arrival of final decisions reached by consensus. The resulting recommendations for addressing tobacco use in homeless populations focused on tobacco non-use policy implementation, cessation programming, and expansion of partnerships and collaborations between tobacco control advocates and social service providers. The panel also identified unanswered research questions that can serve to develop a framework for future initiatives to reduce tobacco use among homeless persons. The expert panel model serves as one approach for engaging nontraditional partners and building consensus among leaders from a variety of sectors to address tobacco use in special populations.

Across the U.S., states have adopted Complete Streets legislative statutes—state laws that direct transportation agencies to routinely design and operate roadways to provide safe access for all users, including pedestrians, bicyclists, motorists, and public transit users. To date, there has not been a systematic and comprehensive analysis of the content and provisions of these laws. In this study, Complete Streets state statutes were identified using legal research databases. Using established legal mapping methods, a qualitative analysis was conducted of state laws that were effective through December 2018. A codebook and open-source data set were developed to support the public use of the data. Eighteen states and Washington, DC, have adopted Complete Streets legislative statutes. A total of 21 have been adopted, with 76% (n=16) of laws adopted since 2007. While the laws vary in content, detail, and specificity, several common provisions were identified across statutes. Complete Streets legislative statutes may be essential to ensure that road networks throughout states are safe, connected, and accessible for all users. This study provides key insights into the legislative landscape of Complete Streets state laws and makes available a new data set that can support future evaluations of these laws.