This article describes a nationally representative survey of central office employees at state health agencies to characterize key components of the public health workforce.

Public health workforce development efforts during the past 50 years have evolved from a focus on enumerating workers to comprehensive strategies that address workforce size and composition, training, recruitment and retention, effectiveness, and expected competencies in public health practice. We provide new perspectives on the public health workforce, using data from the Public Health Workforce Interests and Needs Survey, the largest nationally representative survey of the governmental public health workforce in the United States. Five major thematic areas are explored: workforce diversity in a changing demographic environment; challenges of an aging workforce, including impending retirements and the need for succession planning; workers’ salaries and challenges of recruiting new staff; the growth of undergraduate public health education and what this means for the future public health workforce; and workers’ awareness and perceptions of national trends in the field. We discussed implications for policy and practice.

Public health is at a crossroads. Significant turnover is expected in the coming years. Retention efforts should engage staff across all levels of public health.

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Context: Workforce surveillance efforts have long been called for in public health: the Public Health Workforce Interests and Needs Survey (PH WINS) answers that call. Objective: To characterize the state of the governmental public health workforce among State Health Agency-Central Office (SHA-CO) staff across the United States. Design: The SHA leadership were contacted and invited to have their agency participate in PH WINS 2017 as a census-based fielding. Participating agencies provided staff lists, and staff were then directly invited by e-mail to participate in a Web-based survey. Pearson and Rao-Scott χ 2 analyses are employed in descriptive analyses. Balanced repeated replication weights account for design and nonresponse. Setting and Participants: SHA-CO staff. Main Outcome Measures: The PH WINS focuses on 4 primary domains: perceptions of workplace environment and job satisfaction, training needs, national trends, and demographics. In addition, measures of intent to leave and employee burnout are analyzed. Results: The state governmental public health workforce is primarily female (72%), non-Hispanic white (64%), and 46 years of age or older (59%). Nearly one-third (31%) of the workforce is older than 55 years, with 9% aged 30 years or younger. Overall, 74% of respondents indicated that they had at least a bachelor's degree, and 19% indicated having a public health degree of some kind. Seventy-nine percent of the respondents indicated that they were somewhat/very satisfied with their jobs. Approximately 47% of SHA-CO staff say that they are considering leaving or are planning to retire. With respect to training needs, the largest overall gaps for the state health agency workforce were observed in budget and financial management, systems and strategic thinking, and developing a vision for a healthy community. Conclusions: PH WINS represents the first nationally representative survey of governmental public health staff in the United States. It holds potential for wide usage from novel workforce research to identifying and helping address practice-based needs.

Context: Public health has been hit by the first wave of the “silver tsunami”—baby boomers retiring en masse . However, thousands of staff members say they are considering voluntarily leaving for other reasons as well. Objective: To identify characteristics of staff who said they were planning on leaving in 2014 but stayed at their organizations through 2017. Design: Data from the 2014 and 2017 Public Health Workforce Interests and Needs Survey (PH WINS) were linked by respondent, and characteristics associated with intent to leave were analyzed. Longitudinal logistic models were fit to examine correlates of intent to leave, with job and pay satisfaction, demographic variables, and workplace engagement perceptions as independent variables. Setting and Participants: Respondents from state health agency–central offices and local health departments that participated in the PH WINS in 2014 and 2017. Main Outcome Measures: Intent to leave (excluding retirement), demographic measures, and changes in the perceptions of workplace engagement. Results: Among all staff members responding in 2014 and 2017, 15% said they were considering leaving in 2014, excluding retirement, compared with 26% in 2017 ( P < .001). Overall, 21% of those who were not considering leaving in 2014 indicated they were doing so in 2017. Comparatively, 57% of those considering leaving in 2014 said they were still considering it in 2017. The regressions showed those who were somewhat or very satisfied were significantly more likely to indicate they were not (or were no longer) considering leaving. Conclusions: Among staff members who have been considering leaving but have not yet left their organization, improvements to workplace engagement perceptions and job satisfaction were highly associated with not considering leaving their job.

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This study examined the relationship between mother-grandmother relationship quality and adolescent mothers' parenting behaviors using longitudinal multimethod, multi-informant data. Participants were 181 urban, African American adolescent mothers. Self-report data on mother-grandmother relationship conflict and depressive symptoms were collected after delivery and at 6-, 13-, and 24-month follow-up visits. Videotaped observations were used to measure mother-grandmother relationship quality at baseline. Mother-child interactions were videotaped at 6, 13, and 24 months to operationalize parenting. Mixed-model regression methods were used to investigate the relation between mother-grandmother relationships and mother-child interactions. Mother-grandmother relationship quality predicted both negative control and nurturing parenting. Mothers whose own mothers were more direct (both demanding and clear) and who reported low relationship conflict demonstrated low negative control in their parenting. Mothers who demonstrated high levels of individuation (a balance of autonomy and mutuality) and reported low relationship conflict showed high nurturing parenting. The implications of these findings for adolescent health and emotional development are discussed.