The First Nationally Representative Benchmark of the Local Governmental Public Health Workforce: Findings From the 2017 Public Health Workforce Interests and Needs Survey

Autor: Brian C. Castrucci, Kyle Bogaert, Nathalie Robin, Ashley Edmiston, Meghan D. McGinty
Rok vydání: 2019
Předmět:
Adult
Male
workforce development
medicine.medical_specialty
Workforce Characteristics
Population
local health departments
public health workforce
Context (language use)
Intention
03 medical and health sciences
0302 clinical medicine
Surveys and Questionnaires
Public Health Workforce Interests and Needs Survey (PH WINS)
medicine
Humans
Staff Development
030212 general & internal medicine
Workplace
education
Aged
job satisfaction
public health systems
Response rate (survey)
education.field_of_study
Local Government
030505 public health
Health Policy
Public health
public health
Public Health
Environmental and Occupational Health
Research Reports
Middle Aged
Workforce development
United States
Stratified sampling
Local government
Family medicine
Workforce
Female
Business
0305 other medical science
Needs Assessment
Zdroj: Journal of Public Health Management and Practice
ISSN: 1078-4659
Popis: Context A changing public health landscape requires local governmental health departments (LHDs) to have a workforce prepared to meet complex challenges. While previous assessments looked at organizational data on the LHD workforce, the Public Health Workforce Interests and Needs Survey (PH WINS) is the first nationally representative survey to examine individual perceptions of training needs, workplace environment, job satisfaction, and awareness of emerging concepts in public health. Objectives Characterize key interests and needs of the local governmental public health workforce. Design Survey invitations were sent to individual LHD employees on the basis of a stratified sampling approach. The LHDs had to employ a minimum of 25 staff and serve a population of 25 000 or greater to be eligible for inclusion. Setting 399 LHDs across the United States. Participants A total of 26 533 LHD employees completed the survey (59% response rate). Results The majority of local public health workers are female (81%, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 78%-84%) and white non-Hispanic (68%, 95% CI: 64%-72%). Of the nearly quarter of workers who declared an intent to leave within the next year excluding retirement (22%, 95% CI: 19%-25%), the most common reasons included pay (46%, 95% CI: 42%-50%), lack of opportunities for advancement (40%, 95% CI: 38%-50%), and workplace environment (30%, 95% CI: 27%-32%). Across jurisdiction size and supervisory level, skills gaps were noted in budget and financial management, systems and strategic thinking, developing a vision for a healthy community, and change management. Conclusions As the first nationally representative sample of the local governmental public health workforce, these data create a national benchmark against which LHDs can measure their workforce. Given the similarities found across LHDs serving different jurisdiction sizes, a unified approach to workforce development should be employed across all LHDs. The LHD leadership should address retention, reward creativity and innovation, improve communication between leadership and employees, and provide opportunities for advancement.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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