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Local Health Department Epidemiologic Capacity: A Stratified Cross-Sectional Assessment Describing the Quantity, Education, Training, and Perceived Competencies of Epidemiologic Staff

Introduction: Local health departments (LHDs) must have sufficient numbers of staff functioning in an epidemiologic role with proper education, training, and skills to protect the health of communities they serve. This pilot study was designed to describe the composition, training, and competency le...

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Autores principales: O’Keefe, Kaitlin A., Shafir, Shira C., Shoaf, Kimberley I.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2013
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3860004/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24350233
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2013.00064
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author O’Keefe, Kaitlin A.
Shafir, Shira C.
Shoaf, Kimberley I.
author_facet O’Keefe, Kaitlin A.
Shafir, Shira C.
Shoaf, Kimberley I.
author_sort O’Keefe, Kaitlin A.
collection PubMed
description Introduction: Local health departments (LHDs) must have sufficient numbers of staff functioning in an epidemiologic role with proper education, training, and skills to protect the health of communities they serve. This pilot study was designed to describe the composition, training, and competency level of LHD staff and examine the hypothesis that potential disparities exist between LHDs serving different sized populations. Materials and Methods: Cross-sectional surveys were conducted with directors and epidemiologic staff from a sample of 100 LHDs serving jurisdictions of varied sizes. Questionnaires included inquiries regarding staff composition, education, training, and measures of competency modeled on previously conducted studies by the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists. Number of epidemiologic staff, academic degree distribution, epidemiologic training, and both director and staff confidence in task competencies were calculated for each LHD size strata. Results: Disparities in measurements were observed in LHDs serving different sized populations. LHDs serving small populations reported a smaller average number of epidemiologic staff than those serving larger jurisdictions. As size of population served increased, percentages of staff and directors holding bachelors’ and masters’ degrees increased, while those holding RN degrees decreased. A higher degree of perceived competency of staff in most task categories was reported in LHDs serving larger populations. Discussion: LHDs serving smaller populations reported fewer epidemiologic staff, therefore might benefit from additional resources. Differences observed in staff education, training, and competencies suggest that enhanced epidemiologic training might be particularly needed in LHDs serving smaller populations. Results can be used as a baseline for future research aimed at identifying areas where training and personnel resources might be particularly needed to increase the capabilities of LHDs.
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spelling pubmed-38600042013-12-12 Local Health Department Epidemiologic Capacity: A Stratified Cross-Sectional Assessment Describing the Quantity, Education, Training, and Perceived Competencies of Epidemiologic Staff O’Keefe, Kaitlin A. Shafir, Shira C. Shoaf, Kimberley I. Front Public Health Public Health Introduction: Local health departments (LHDs) must have sufficient numbers of staff functioning in an epidemiologic role with proper education, training, and skills to protect the health of communities they serve. This pilot study was designed to describe the composition, training, and competency level of LHD staff and examine the hypothesis that potential disparities exist between LHDs serving different sized populations. Materials and Methods: Cross-sectional surveys were conducted with directors and epidemiologic staff from a sample of 100 LHDs serving jurisdictions of varied sizes. Questionnaires included inquiries regarding staff composition, education, training, and measures of competency modeled on previously conducted studies by the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists. Number of epidemiologic staff, academic degree distribution, epidemiologic training, and both director and staff confidence in task competencies were calculated for each LHD size strata. Results: Disparities in measurements were observed in LHDs serving different sized populations. LHDs serving small populations reported a smaller average number of epidemiologic staff than those serving larger jurisdictions. As size of population served increased, percentages of staff and directors holding bachelors’ and masters’ degrees increased, while those holding RN degrees decreased. A higher degree of perceived competency of staff in most task categories was reported in LHDs serving larger populations. Discussion: LHDs serving smaller populations reported fewer epidemiologic staff, therefore might benefit from additional resources. Differences observed in staff education, training, and competencies suggest that enhanced epidemiologic training might be particularly needed in LHDs serving smaller populations. Results can be used as a baseline for future research aimed at identifying areas where training and personnel resources might be particularly needed to increase the capabilities of LHDs. Frontiers Media S.A. 2013-12-02 /pmc/articles/PMC3860004/ /pubmed/24350233 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2013.00064 Text en Copyright © 2013 O’Keefe, Shafir and Shoaf. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Public Health
O’Keefe, Kaitlin A.
Shafir, Shira C.
Shoaf, Kimberley I.
Local Health Department Epidemiologic Capacity: A Stratified Cross-Sectional Assessment Describing the Quantity, Education, Training, and Perceived Competencies of Epidemiologic Staff
title Local Health Department Epidemiologic Capacity: A Stratified Cross-Sectional Assessment Describing the Quantity, Education, Training, and Perceived Competencies of Epidemiologic Staff
title_full Local Health Department Epidemiologic Capacity: A Stratified Cross-Sectional Assessment Describing the Quantity, Education, Training, and Perceived Competencies of Epidemiologic Staff
title_fullStr Local Health Department Epidemiologic Capacity: A Stratified Cross-Sectional Assessment Describing the Quantity, Education, Training, and Perceived Competencies of Epidemiologic Staff
title_full_unstemmed Local Health Department Epidemiologic Capacity: A Stratified Cross-Sectional Assessment Describing the Quantity, Education, Training, and Perceived Competencies of Epidemiologic Staff
title_short Local Health Department Epidemiologic Capacity: A Stratified Cross-Sectional Assessment Describing the Quantity, Education, Training, and Perceived Competencies of Epidemiologic Staff
title_sort local health department epidemiologic capacity: a stratified cross-sectional assessment describing the quantity, education, training, and perceived competencies of epidemiologic staff
topic Public Health
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3860004/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24350233
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2013.00064
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