Top Training Needs of the Governmental Public Health Workforce

Abstract

Context: Workforce development in governmental public health has historically focused on discipline-specific skills. However, as the field of public health has evolved, crosscutting skills have become critical. The 2017 fielding of the Public Health Workforce Interests and Needs Survey (PH WINS) provides a national benchmark for gaps in crosscutting skills in state and local health departments. Objective: The purpose of this article is to identify top areas of training needs in the governmental public health workforce using data from PH WINS 2017. Design: PH WINS participants in state and local health departments were surveyed in fall 2017 using a Web-based platform. Balanced repeated replication weights were used to account for complex sample design. Setting: Forty-seven state health agencies, 26 large city health departments, and a nationally representative sample of mid-to-large local health departments. Participants: Permanently employed governmental public health staff. Main Outcome Measures: Training needs were determined by combining self-reported skill importance and proficiency. Skills reported to be of high importance, and low levels of proficiency were coded as training needs. Focus area gaps were defined as having a training need in at least one skill in the focus area. Results: The largest area of training need, regardless of supervisory status, was in budgeting and financial management (55%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 53-56), with a large gap also identified in systems and strategic thinking (49%; 95% CI, 47-50). There was some variation by supervisory status, with training needs for nonsupervisors in change management and in developing a vision for a healthy community for management. Conclusions: The PH WINS training needs assessment provides the first nationally representative data on training needs for the state and local health department workforce. Across state and local health departments, there are common critical training needs essential for the current and future practice of public health.

The Public Health Workforce Interests and Needs Survey (PH WINS 2017): An Expanded Perspective on the State Health Agency Workforce

“…All respondents answered (1) whether they felt that the item was important in their day-to-day work and (2) how they characterized their ability to perform the item. This section's restructuring is described in detail elsewhere in this supplement 16. The emerging concepts section was modified slightly,14 and a new question was added to gauge respondent perception about the appropriate role of the SHA in other sectors related to health (eg, education, transportation).…”

Regional Training Needs Assessment: A First Look at High-Priority Training Needs Across the United States by Region

“…While the first fielding of PH WINS in 2014 included items related to training needs, a reimagining of the section was deemed necessary for 2017 15. In partnership with the de Beaumont Foundation, the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials convened the PH WINS Standardized Training Needs Assessment Workgroup—cochaired by representatives from the National Association of County & City Health Officials and the National Network of Public Health Institutes—to revise the training needs section for the 2017 survey launch 20.…”

“…Training needs in public health have been studied, but primarily with a discipline-specific or agency-specific focus 7,8,11,15–19. The Public Health Workforce Interests and Needs Survey (PH WINS) was first launched in 2014 with state health agencies and a pilot of local health agencies and explored demographics, trends, workplace environment, and training needs 10.…”

Local Health Department Accreditation Is Associated With Organizational Supports for Evidence-Based Decision Making

“…For individual skill building, on-thejob training opportunities in EBDM now include both in-person and distance learning modalities (9). Despite improvements in some areas, skill gaps persist (10,11). A 2017 national survey of state and local health department employees found that the highest skill gaps were in financial management, systems and strategic thinking, developing a vision for a healthy community, and change management (11).…”

“…Despite improvements in some areas, skill gaps persist (10,11). A 2017 national survey of state and local health department employees found that the highest skill gaps were in financial management, systems and strategic thinking, developing a vision for a healthy community, and change management (11). It remains unknown whether employees in accredited health departments are better equipped and supported to apply EBDM skills than those in nonaccredited departments.…”