Exploring the geospatial variations in the public health workforce: implications for diversifying the supply of potential workers in governmental settings.

Autor:	Onal SO; Center for Public Health Systems, Division of Health Policy and Management, University of Minnesota School of Public Health, Minneapolis, MN 55455, United States., Martin S; NORC at the University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60603, United States., Weiss NM; Center for Public Health Systems, Division of Health Policy and Management, University of Minnesota School of Public Health, Minneapolis, MN 55455, United States., Leider JP; Center for Public Health Systems, Division of Health Policy and Management, University of Minnesota School of Public Health, Minneapolis, MN 55455, United States.
Jazyk:	angličtina
Zdroj:	Health affairs scholar [Health Aff Sch] 2024 Sep 17; Vol. 2 (10), pp. qxae116. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Sep 17 (Print Publication: 2024).
DOI:	10.1093/haschl/qxae116
Abstrakt:	The US public health workforce has markedly declined, falling from 500 000 individuals in 1980 to 239 000 by 2022, a trend exacerbated by economic instability and an aging demographic. There was a temporary surge in staffing through emergency hires during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the permanence of these positions remains uncertain. Concurrently, public health degree conferrals have sharply increased, creating a mismatch between the growing number of graduates and the actual needs of health departments. This study analyzes the distribution of the potential public health labor supply within a 50- and 150-mile radius of health departments, revealing a significant regional imbalance. Most regions experience substantial differences in the concentration of public health graduates when accounting for population size, reflecting geographic disparities in workforce distribution. These findings underscore the necessity for structured partnerships between health departments and educational institutions and advocacy for adaptive policy changes to align educational outputs with labor market demands, essential for a resilient public health workforce. Competing Interests: Please see ICMJE form(s) for author conflicts of interest. These have been provided as supplementary materials. The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest regarding the publication of this manuscript. This research was funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Health Resources and Services Administration under award numbers U81HP47167 and UR2HP4737. The funders had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Project HOPE - The People-To-People Health Foundation, Inc.)
Databáze:	MEDLINE
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