Describing the Continuum of Collaboration Among Local Health Departments With Hospitals Around the Community Health Assessments

Section: • Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Public Health Agencies' Level of Engagement in and Perceived Barriers to PHAB National Voluntary Accreditation

Shah

Leep

et al. 2015

“…Current levels of collaboration on assessments between LHDs and hospitals in Missouri is low, with LHDs waiting from the hospitals to engage them in the process. 25 Additionally, the RLHDs interviewed have worked with universities to provide practice experiences for masters of public health students. In their experiences, students were a valuable resource and can assist with accreditation efforts.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Patterns and Predictors of Local Health Department Accreditation in Missouri

Beatty

Mayer

Elliott

et al. 2015

Self Cite

Context Accreditation of local health departments has been identified as a crucial strategy for strengthening the public health infrastructure. Rural local health departments face many challenges including lower levels of staffing and funding than LHDs serving metropolitan or urban areas; simultaneously their populations experience health disparities related to risky health behaviors, health outcomes, and access to medical care. Through accreditation, rural local health departments can become better equipped to meet the needs of their communities. Objective To better understand the needs of communities by assessing barriers and incentives to state-level accreditation in Missouri from the rural local health department (RHLD) perspective. Design Qualitative analysis of semi-structured key informant interviews with Missouri LHDs serving rural communities. Participants Eleven administrators of RLHDs, seven from accredited and four from unaccredited departments were interviewed. Population size served ranged from 6,400 to 52,000 for accredited RLHDs and 7,200 to 73,000 for unaccredited RLHDs. Results Unaccredited RLHDs identified more barriers to accreditation than accredited RLHDs. Time was a major barrier to seeking accreditation. Unaccredited RLHDs overall did not see accreditation as a priority for their agency and failed to the see value of accreditation. Accredited RLHDs listed significantly more incentives then their unaccredited counterparts. Unaccredited RLHDs identified accountability, becoming more effective and efficient, staff development, and eventual funding as incentives to accreditation. Conclusions There is a need for better documentation of measurable benefits in order for a RLHD to pursue voluntary accreditation. Those who pursue are likely to see benefits after the fact, but those who do not, do not see the immediate and direct benefits of voluntary accreditation. The findings from this study of state-level accreditation in Missouri provides insight that can be translated to national accreditation.

“…Current levels of collaboration on assessments between LHDs and hospitals in Missouri are low, with LHDs waiting from the hospitals to engage them in the process. 26,27 Finally, RLHDs wanted more training opportunities. Unaccredited RLHDs would benefit from trainings related to the accreditation prerequisites and the accreditation process.…”

Section: Strategies To Overcome Barriersmentioning

confidence: 98%

Barriers and Incentives to Rural Health Department Accreditation

Beatty

Mayer

Elliott

et al. 2016

Self Cite

There is a need for better documentation of measurable benefits in order for an RLHD to pursue voluntary accreditation. Those who pursue accreditation are likely to see benefits after the fact, but those who do not pursue do not see the immediate and direct benefits of voluntary accreditation. The finding from this study of state-level accreditation in Missouri provides insight that can be translated to national accreditation.