As indicated in Year 2010 Objective 23-8, increasing essential service performance among the public health workforce is an important goal. However, data addressing this objective remain sparse. Employing a survey of 420 employees at a large metropolitan local health department, the current study evaluated the frequency of performance of a set of 67 local public health practice tasks each linked to one of the ten essential services. The specific tasks were adapted from essential service definitions developed by the Public Health Functions Steering Committee, the Public Health Foundation, and others. The response rate was 76% (420/554), with no significant sample-population differences on gender, seniority, or discipline. One-quarter of the sample had been employed in public health for more than ten years, and 17% possessed a masters degree. Cronbach alpha coefficients for the ten essential service scores - created by summing across the pertinent tasks for each service - ranged from .58 to .93. Multiple regression analyses indicated essential service performance varied significantly by employee characteristics. For example, employees with greater seniority and education were significantly more likely to engage in policy development. In addition, a cluster analysis revealed five workforce types, including policy enforcers, disease investigators, clinical providers, outreach agents, and low performers. A cluster validation sub-study successfully differentiated the workforce types on employee characteristics. Assessments of the public health workforce can assist in monitoring progress towards Year 2010 Objective 23-8, and can prompt greater integration of the essential services into practice.
Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of this session, participants will be able to identify and define the ten essential services of public health. At the conclusion of this session, participants will be able to enumerate the advantages of incorporating systematic assessments of essential services performance into local public health practice.
Keywords: Essential Public Health Services, Workforce
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.