A Toolkit to Assess Medical Reserve Corps Units' Performance

Abstract

<jats:title>ABSTRACT</jats:title><jats:p><jats:bold>Objectives:</jats:bold> The Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) is a national network of community-based units created to promote the local identification, recruitment, training, and activation of volunteers to assist local health departments in public health activities. This study aimed to develop a toolkit for MRC coordinators to assess and monitor volunteer units' performance and identify barriers limiting volunteerism.</jats:p><jats:p><jats:bold>Methods:</jats:bold> In 2008 and 2009, MRC volunteers asked to participate in influenza clinics were surveyed in 7 different locations throughout the United States. Two survey instruments were used to assess the performance of the volunteers who were able to participate, the specific barriers that prevented some volunteers from participating, and the overall attitudes of those who participated and those who did not. Validity and reliability of the instruments were assessed through the use of factor analysis and Cronbach's alpha.</jats:p><jats:p><jats:bold>Results:</jats:bold> Two survey instruments were developed: the Volunteer Self-Assessment Questionnaire and the Barriers to Volunteering Questionnaire. Data were collected from a total of 1059 subjects, 758 participated in the influenza clinics and 301 were unable to attend. Data from the 2 instruments were determined to be suitable for factor analysis. Factor solutions and inter-item correlations supported the hypothesized domain structure for both survey questionnaires. Results on volunteers' performance were consistent with observations of both local health departments' staff and external observers.</jats:p><jats:p><jats:bold>Conclusions:</jats:bold> The survey instruments developed for this study appear to be valid and reliable means to assess the performance and attitudes of MRC volunteers and barriers to their participation. This study found these instruments to have face and content validity and practicality. MRC coordinators can use these questionnaires to monitor their ability to engage volunteers in public health activities.</jats:p><jats:p>(<jats:italic>Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness</jats:italic>. 2010;4:213-219)</jats:p>

Public Health Emergency Preparedness System Evaluation Criteria and Performance Metrics: A Review of Contributions of the CDC-Funded Preparedness and Emergency Response Research Centers

“…However, a few of the tools mentioned in the manuscript are available online (Table 1), including Emergency Preparedness Exercise Evaluation Toolkit, Evaluation Toolkit for the Deployment of MRC Units during Flu Clinics and other Public Health Activities, and Assessment for Disaster Engagement with Partners Toolkit 15 16 , 34 A future research and evaluation program for PHEPR system measurement must be informed by a sound conceptual model of how factors in this complex system interact to influence the course of response and subsequent recovery. Lacking such a model, the field may continue to struggle to find consensus on what is most important to measure and, in turn, may continue to produce metrics that are difficult to apply and validate across different contexts.…”

“…To examine response workforce participation and performance, Savoia and colleagues developed and tested 2 questionnaires for Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) volunteers: one to assess performance and attitudes of volunteers, and another to assess barriers that prevented some volunteers from participating in influenza clinics. 34 Factor analysis indicated that 20 items in the Volunteer Self-Assessment Questionnaire could be grouped into 5 factors. Results concerning volunteers' performance were consistent with observations from LHD staff working with the volunteers and external evaluators observing the flu clinics' activities.…”

Preparedness and Emergency Response Research Centers: Using a Public Health Systems Approach to Improve All-Hazards Preparedness and Response

“…The PERRCs addressed the third program objective by conducting critical research to develop evaluation methods, metrics, and modeling approaches that can be used to support capability assessment and reduce system performance variability. Examples of capability assessment strategies developed by the PERRCs included a toolkit to evaluate Medical Reserve Corps performance 34 and studies examining how to better use after-action reports [35][36][37] and exercises [38][39][40][41][42] for performance improvement. PERRC research pursued modeling of various PHP system phenomena, including mass evacuation, 43 the impact of different vaccine distribution strategies, 44,45 infectious disease progression in a population, 46,47 and effects of variation in mitigation strategies, such as the impact of different school closure approaches.…”