Public Health Employees’ Perceptions about the Impact of Emerging Public Health Trends on Their Day-to-Day Work: Effects of Organizational Climate and Culture

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this research was to assess the workforce characteristics associated with public health employees’ perceived impact of emerging trends in public health on their day-to-day work. Methods: Multinomial logistic regression was performed to analyze data from the 2017 PH WINS, a cross-sectional survey utilizing a nationally representative sample of the United States public health workforce. Results: More than 55% of the public health workforce perceived that their day-to-day work was impacted by the emerging public health trends. Workplace environment was significantly associated with the perception of their day-to-day work being impacted by emerging public health trends such as quality improvement (QI) (AOR = 1.04, p < 0.001), and evidence-based public health practice (EBPH) (AOR = 1.04, p < 0.001). Race, ethnicity, and educational status were also positively associated with the perceived impact of the emerging public health trends. Conclusions: The organizational culture of a public health agency influences the engagement of the workforce and their perception of the meaningfulness of their work. As practitioners shift into chief health strategists, it will be imperative for them to have training in public health foundations and tools in order to efficiently serve their communities.

Seven Years, 3 Surveys, a Changed World: The State Public Health Workforce 2014-2021

“…10 Even prior to the pandemic, there were concerning trends in the governmental public health workforce related to high rates of turnover among workers and leaders 11,12 ; underrepresentation of Black, indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC); women in leadership positions [11][12][13] ; training needs around critical skills 14,15 ; and emerging public health issues. 16,17 Conducted in 2014, 2017, and for a third time in 2021, the Public Health Workforce Interests and Needs Survey (PH WINS) presents a unique opportunity to understand not only the current state of the state and local public health workforce in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic but also a longitudinal view of the workforce's changing composition and needs for more than 7 years and 3 iterations of the survey. 11,18 In this article, we present data on demographics, job satisfaction and engagement, and mental health status of the state public health agency workforce, and make recommendations for recruitment and retention of this important asset.…”

“…Even prior to the pandemic, there were concerning trends in the governmental public health workforce related to high rates of turnover among workers and leaders11,12; underrepresentation of Black, indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC); women in leadership positions11–13; training needs around critical skills14,15; and emerging public health issues 16,17…”

Turnover, COVID-19, and Reasons for Leaving and Staying Within Governmental Public Health

“…Rapidly evolving public health practice is accompanied by the growing demand that the public health workforce perform evidence-based, accountable, and high-quality public health services. 1 Accountable public health practice, aligned with the national standards of performance proposed by the Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB) 2022 standards, requires a paradigm shift to Public Health 3.0. 2 Public health must aim to not only ensure population health for communities across the United States but also do so efficiently while mitigating health inequities and associated health disparities and address the emerging challenges from novel diseases and emerging threats.…”

“…Robust public health infrastructure, including a competent workforce, is critical to support the changing public health enterprise. Rapidly evolving public health practice is accompanied by the growing demand that the public health workforce perform evidence-based, accountable, and high-quality public health services 1. Accountable public health practice, aligned with the national standards of performance proposed by the Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB) 2022 standards, requires a paradigm shift to Public Health 3.0 2.…”