Addressing tobacco use in homeless populations: a survey of health care professionals.

Cigarette smoking is common among homeless individuals, but little is known about health care providers' practices and attitudes in addressing tobacco use in this vulnerable population. We surveyed members of the Health Care for the Homeless Clinicians' Network, a nationwide multidisciplinary organization, to assess their tobacco screening practices, attitudes toward addressing tobacco use, and experience providing tobacco products to homeless individuals. Of 231 clinicians who completed the survey, 86.5% reported routinely screening for tobacco use. Although 74.4% of respondents viewed tobacco use as one of the most important health issues among homeless people, rates of agreement with this and other attitudes toward tobacco use in the setting of homelessness varied significantly by clinical discipline. Overall, 15.3% of respondents reported having ever given patients tobacco to build trust or promote adherence to care. Addressing providers' attitudinal variations and tobacco distribution practices may foster a more consistent anti-smoking message for this population.

Addressing tobacco use in homeless populations: recommendations of an expert panel.

A diverse group of panelists met for one day on October 21, 2009, in Washington, DC, for the purpose of addressing the high tobacco use prevalence rates in homeless populations; identifying appropriate policy, cessation practices and models for implementation in this population; and providing targeted recommendations for researchers, homeless service providers, tobacco control advocates, and policy makers. The panel was convened by Break Free Alliance, one of six national networks funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Office on Smoking and Health. The panelists worked through a process of problem identification, generation of responses, analysis and prioritization, development of recommendations, and arrival of final decisions reached by consensus. The resulting recommendations for addressing tobacco use in homeless populations focused on tobacco non-use policy implementation, cessation programming, and expansion of partnerships and collaborations between tobacco control advocates and social service providers. The panel also identified unanswered research questions that can serve to develop a framework for future initiatives to reduce tobacco use among homeless persons. The expert panel model serves as one approach for engaging nontraditional partners and building consensus among leaders from a variety of sectors to address tobacco use in special populations.

Management academy for public health: creating entrepreneurial managers.

The Management Academy for Public Health develops public health managers' management skills. Ultimately, the program aims to develop civic entrepreneurs who can improve the efficiency and the effectiveness of their organizations. With help from a coach, teams write public health business plans to meet needs in their communities. An external evaluation found that 119 teams trained during the first 3 years of the program generated more than $6 million in enhanced revenue-including grants, contracts, and fees through their business plans--from $2 million in program funding. Approximately 38% of the teams expected to generate revenue from an academy business plan or a spin-off plan. Action-learning methods can help midcareer managers transfer their training to the workplace and build entrepreneurial skills.

The UNC Management Academy for Public Health: how the UNC School of Public Health and the Kenan-Flagler Business School created a winning partnership.

The University of North Carolina Management Academy for Public Health is a unique training program that combines a business education with a public health focus, to enhance the performance of individual public health managers and improve organizational strength throughout governmental public health. This article considers the implications of decisions made in creating this program, which, after initial funding through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Foundation, is now self-sustaining through participant fees. It details the principles behind the program's design, curriculum, evaluation, and sustainability strategies; presents results of the ongoing partnership; and draws conclusions about the program's future ability to meet a national need for public health management training.

UNC certificate program in core public health concepts: lessons learned.

OBJECTIVES: Public health workers need to be trained in the core public health sciences. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Public Health created a Certificate in Core Public Health Concepts to meet the training needs of public health workers, primarily those working in state or local public health agencies. METHODS: This article examines the demographic, educational, job classification, and workplace characteristics of certificate program applicants from the first 3 years of the program. In addition, this article assesses student performance and graduate satisfaction with the program. RESULTS: Among the 273 applications reviewed, the majority were from females. They worked in a variety of job classifications: 19% were public health agency workers, 64% were public health system workers, and 17% worked in other occupations. Nearly all students received High Pass or Pass grades on courses. Initial data on graduate satisfaction with the program are positive. CONCLUSIONS: Implications of the findings for training the public health workforce are discussed.

Meetings, meetings, and more meetings.

The Management Moment" is a regular column within the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice. Janet Porter, PhD, and Edward L. Baker, MSc, MD, MPH, are serving as The Management Moment Editors. Dr Porter is Associate Dean for Executive Education, The North Carolina Institute for Public Health, School of Public Health, at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Dr Baker is Director of The North Carolina Institute for Public Health, School of Public Health, at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. This column provides commentary and guidance on timely management issues commonly encountered in public health practice.

Practicing management and leadership: creating the information network for public health officials.

The Management Moment" is a regular column within the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice. Janet Porter, PhD, and Edward Baker, MD, MPH, MSc, are serving as The Management Moment Editors. Dr Porter is Associate Dean for Executive Education, The North Carolina Institute for Public Health, School of Public Health, at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Dr Baker is Director of The North Carolina Institute for Public Health, School of Public Health, at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. This column provides commentary and guidance on timely management issues commonly encountered in public health practice.

The National Public Health Leadership Institute: evaluation of a team-based approach to developing collaborative public health leaders.

Recent public health literature contains calls for collaborative public health interventions and for leaders capable of guiding them. The National Public Health Leadership Institute aims to develop collaborative leaders and to strengthen networks of leaders who share knowledge and jointly address public health problems. Evaluation results show that completing the institute training increases collaborative leadership and builds knowledge-sharing and problem-solving networks. These practices and networks strengthen interorganizational relationships, coalitions, services, programs, and policies. Intensive team-and project-based learning are key to the program's impact.

Partnering essentials.

"The Management Moment" is a regular column within the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice. Janet Porter, PhD, and Edward Baker, MD, MPH, MSc, are serving as The Management Moment Editors. Dr. Porter is Associate Dean for Executive Education, The North Carolina Institute for Public Health, School of Public Health, at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Dr. Baker is Director of the North Carolina Institute for Public Health, School of Public Health, at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. This column provides commentary and guidance on timely management issues commonly encountered in public health practice.

Management is a Team Sport.

"The Management Moment" is a regular column within the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice. Janet Porter, PhD, and Edward Baker, MD, MPH, MSc, are serving as The Management Moment Editors. Dr. Porter is Associate Dean for Executive Education, The North Carolina Institute for Public Health, School of Public Health, at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Dr. Baker is Director of the North Carolina Institute for Public Health, School of Public Health, at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. This column provides commentary and guidance on timely management issues commonly encountered in public health practice.

Where are the healthcare leaders" the need for investment in leadership development.

Is there a crisis in healthcare leadership? In order to understand this question we must first look at what is meant by the term leadership. We prize and admire leadership skills, yet we have little understanding of how and why some persons are more effective leaders than others. This paper describes the changing concept of leadership in the context of both corporate and healthcare settings. The approaches taken in corporate leadership development programs are contrasted with the way in which leaders have been developed in healthcare. The authors assert that there are unique characteristics of health systems and organizations that warrant a tailored approach. A new model of developing healthcare leaders is proposed, one that could transform the educational process and improve outcomes. The authors call for a "back to basics" about how adults learn and outline an approach to leadership development in healthcare that includes principles of competency-based development, interdisciplinary and team learning and continuous assessment. Their conclusion is that leadership development is not done solely to improve the leadership skills of one individual but is an essential component of the development of the organization as a whole. Progressive health systems that invest in leadership development for the entire senior management team will have the more significant return on investment in terms of organizational effectiveness.

Strengthening the public health workforce: three CDC programs that prepare managers and leaders for the challenges of the 21st century.

To address the need for management development in public health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) established three independent workforce development initiatives aimed primarily at strengthening management and leadership capacity: the Sustainable Management Development Program, the Management Academy for Public Health, and the CDC Leadership and Management Institute. Though independently designed and implemented, the programs share similar guiding principles in their approach to management development: interactive (adult) learning, management tools that reinforce evidence-based decision making, individual feedback, continuous improvement of the learning process, posttraining support for networking and life-long learning, and teamwork. This article will discuss important lessons learned regarding best practices in management and leadership development.