Conceptualizing and Defining Public Health Emergency Preparedness

Nelson, Christopher; Lurie, Nicole; Wasserman, Jeffrey; Zakowski, Sarah

doi:10.2105/ajph.2007.114496

Cited by 271 publications

(223 citation statements)

References 5 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

220

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…1, [13][14][15] Since September 11 and the anthrax letter attacks, and with federal grant support, state and local public health departments have assumed primary responsibility for preparing their jurisdictions to respond to disasters with significant health effects. 16,17 Historically, federal public health emergency preparedness grant guidance prioritized risk communication, health information dissemination, and incorporation of public input into preparedness and response plans.…”

Section: Leveraging Community Contributionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…19,41 Community engagement has surfaced in most frameworks, as have surveillance and epidemiologic investigation, medical countermeasure dispensing, and mass patient care. 15,40 The needed spotlight on capabilities, 41 however, has cast a long shadow on underlying resource needs. Early on, the point was argued that, lacking evidence to the contrary, structural capacity (eg, personnel, equipment, technology) is an insufficient indicator of the public health system's ability to respond effectively to an emergency.…”

Section: Measuring Performance Relative To Structural Capacitymentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Local Health Department Capacity for Community Engagement and Its Implications for Disaster Resilience

Schoch-Spana

Sell

Morhard

2013

Biosecurity and Bioterrorism: Biodefense Strategy, Practice, an

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Over the past decade, community engagement has become a central tenet of US federal doctrine on public health emergency preparedness. Little is known, however, about how the vision of a ready, aware, and involved populace has translated into local practice, or which conditions thus far have advanced community involvement in what is typically considered the province of government authorities and emergency professionals. In 2011-12, to help close that knowledge gap, investigators carried out semistructured qualitative interviews with practitioners (N = 25) from 7 local health departments about which conditions have advanced or inhibited community engagement in public health emergency preparedness. Among the organizational factors identified as enabling local health departments' involvement of community residents and groups in emergency preparedness were a supportive agency leadership and culture, sufficient staffing and programmatic funding, interested and willing partners, and external triggers such as federal grants and disaster experiences that spotlighted the importance of community relationships to effective response. Facing budget and staff cuts, local health departments feel increasingly constrained in efforts to build trusted and lasting preparedness ties with community partners. At the same time, some progress in preparedness partnerships may be possible in the context of agency leadership, culture, and climate that affirms the value of collaboration with the community.

show abstract

Section: Leveraging Community Contributionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Measuring Performance Relative To Structural Capacitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Local Health Department Capacity for Community Engagement and Its Implications for Disaster Resilience

Schoch-Spana

Sell

Morhard

2013

Biosecurity and Bioterrorism: Biodefense Strategy, Practice, an

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Quantitative studies require valid and reliable measures of both inputs (dimensions of regionalization) and outputs (preparedness). Such measures are not currently well developed (29). In particular, officials need preparedness measures to ensure accountability for investments in public health infrastructure and to guide qualityimprovement efforts.…”

Section: Future Research In Regionalizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Regionalization of Local Public Health Systems in the Era of Preparedness

Koh

Elqura

Judge

et al. 2008

Annu. Rev. Public Health

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Post-9/11, preparedness planning has catalyzed intrastate regionalization of local public health resources throughout the United States. Investigating this trend unveils several regionalization themes, relevant in other sectors of government, which are applicable to local public health. In this review article, we begin by briefly examining the lessons learned from regionalization for police and fire services, drawing comparisons to public health. Then we provide a brief history of the accelerating regionalization of local public health services sparked by the current attention to emergency preparedness. In particular, we offer case studies from Massachusetts and the National Capital Region to highlight examples of regionalization outcomes related to networking, coordination, standardization, and centralization of public health services. The impact of social capital on preparedness is also explored. Finally, we summarize research needs for the future.

show abstract

“…9 Despite the decrease in preparedness and response funding, public health preparedness and emergency response remains an area of critical importance for LHDs; maintaining the public health capacity to detect, investigate, and respond to infectious disease threats is an essential component of preparedness efforts. 10 The purpose of this study was to describe the public health workforce involved in public health surveillance and epidemiologic activities among LHDs in California. Other studies such as the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE) Epidemiology Capacity Assessments (ECAs) [11][12][13][14][15] have attempted to enumerate and assess the epidemiology capacity among LHDs in the United States.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Epidemiology and Surveillance Workforce among Local Health Departments in California: Mutual Aid and Surge Capacity for Routine and Emergency Infectious Disease Situations

Enanoria

Crawley²,

Hunter³

et al. 2014

Public Health Rep

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Objective. Public health surveillance and epidemiologic investigations are critical public health functions for identifying threats to the health of a community. We conducted a survey of local health departments (LHDs) in California to describe the workforce that supports public health surveillance and epidemiologic functions during routine and emergency infectious disease situations.Methods. The target population consisted of the 61 LHDs in California. The online survey instrument was designed to collect information about the workforce involved in key epidemiologic functions. We also examined how the public health workforce increases its epidemiologic capacity during infectious disease emergencies.Results. Of 61 LHDs in California, 31 (51%) completed the survey. A wide range of job classifications contribute to epidemiologic functions routinely, and LHDs rely on both internal and external sources of epidemiologic surge capacity during infectious disease emergencies. This study found that while 17 (55%) LHDs reported having a mutual aid agreement with at least one other organization for emergency response, only nine (29%) LHDs have a mutual aid agreement specifically for epidemiology and surveillance functions.Conclusions. LHDs rely on a diverse workforce to conduct epidemiology and public health surveillance functions, emphasizing the need to identify and describe the types of staff positions that could benefit from public health surveillance and epidemiology training. While some organizations collaborate with external partners to support these functions during an emergency, many LHDs do not rely on mutual aid agreements for epidemiology and surveillance activities.

show abstract

Conceptualizing and Defining Public Health Emergency Preparedness

Cited by 271 publications

References 5 publications

Local Health Department Capacity for Community Engagement and Its Implications for Disaster Resilience

Local Health Department Capacity for Community Engagement and Its Implications for Disaster Resilience

Regionalization of Local Public Health Systems in the Era of Preparedness

The Epidemiology and Surveillance Workforce among Local Health Departments in California: Mutual Aid and Surge Capacity for Routine and Emergency Infectious Disease Situations

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About