Strategic Workforce Analysis: Identifying Skills and Gaps Among Frontline Public Health Workers Amidst Transformation.

OBJECTIVE: Recent shifts in public health (PH) include consistent budget cuts, workforce attrition, and loss of vital skills and institutional knowledge followed by heightened pandemic-driven attention, new responsibilities, and renewed funding. This study investigates whether frontline employees working in different types of public health departments have different educational characteristics and whether these characteristics are associated with differentials in skill gaps toward informing targeted interventions to nurture a competitive workforce. METHODS: Utilizing 2021 Public Health Workforce Interests and Needs Survey (PH WINS) data, we document variations in educational qualifications, skill gaps, and workforce characteristics among frontline workers in different sizes of health departments and examine attributes associated with skill gaps: level and field of education, years of experience, program areas, and job classifications using a negative binomial model. RESULTS: Skill gaps in resource management, systems and strategic thinking, and change management persist across all local health departments (LHDs), but the extent of these gaps is greater in small LHDs. Small LHDs also have few employees with graduate and public health degrees. Additionally, whereas public health degrees were not associated with fewer skill gaps, tenure in public health was, suggesting people learn on the job. CONCLUSION: The results highlight the role regional training centers can play in emphasizing the need for strategic skills and foundational public health concepts, as well as customizing training content by agency size and educational levels to improve accessibility, particularly for small LHDs with resource constraints.

The Need for Responsive Workforce Development During the Pandemic and Beyond: A Case Study of the Regional Public Health Training Centers.

CONTEXT: The COVID-19 pandemic underscored the importance of a strong public health infrastructure for protecting and supporting the health of communities. This includes ensuring an adaptive workforce capable of leading through rapidly changing circumstances, communicating effectively, and applying systems thinking to leverage cross-sector partnerships that help promote health equity. The 10 Regional Public Health Training Centers (PHTCs) advance the capacity of the current and future public health workforce through skill development and technical assistance in these and other strategic areas. PROGRAM: This study examines activities through which the Regional PHTCs and their partners supported the public health workforce during the pandemic. Representatives of the 10 Regional PHTCs completed a survey in the spring of 2022. The survey included (1) pulling trends in training usage from 2018-2021 annual performance reports and (2) questions assessing the type, content, and reach of training needs assessments, training and technical assistance, student placements, and PHTC Network collaborative activities that occurred from January 1, 2020, to December 31, 2021. Respondents also reflected on trends in use, challenges, lessons learned, stories of impact, and future PHTC practice. EVALUATION: During the pandemic, the Regional PHTCs engaged in numerous efforts to assess needs, provide training and technical assistance to the practice community, facilitate projects that built student competency to support public health agency efforts, and collaborate as the PHTC Network on national-level initiatives. Across these activities, the Regional PHTCs adjusted their approaches and learned from each other in order to meet regional needs. DISCUSSION: The Regional PHTCs provided student and professional development in foundational public health knowledge and skills within their regions and nationally while being flexible and responsive to the changing needs of the field during the pandemic. Our study highlights opportunities for collaboration and adaptive approaches to public health workforce development in a postpandemic environment.

Public Health Workforce Development During and Beyond the COVID-19 Pandemic: Findings From a Qualitative Training Needs Assessment.

CONTEXT: The Region V Public Health Training Center (RVPHTC) serves the public health workforce in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin. An important tool in priority-setting workforce development is the training needs assessment (TNA), which is vital to identifying and addressing the capacity-building needs of the public health workforce. PROGRAM: In 2021, we conducted semistructured qualitative interviews with key partners in the local, state, and tribal health workforce. IMPLEMENTATION: Findings reflect the results of 23 interviews administered from March to May 2021. Questions solicited in-depth input related to key training gaps identified in our 2020 quantitative TNA; the impact of COVID-19 on the public health workforce; general needs, including preferred training modalities; needs by audience type; and the current capacity for public health agencies to support student development. EVALUATION: Key training needs of the public health workforce identified by the 2021 TNA include the strategic skills domains of (1) resource management; (2) change management; (3) justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion; and (4) effective communication. The first 3 domains were also noted as having the greatest training need in our 2020 quantitative TNA of local health department leadership. DISCUSSION: The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need for training in effective communication in new ways and the continued need for training support in the skill domains prioritized in the 2020 assessment. Findings demonstrate the need for capacity building around crosscutting skills and the intersection of strategic skill domains if the field is to be prepared for future threats to public health.