Staffing Up and Sustaining the Public Health Workforce

Leider, Jonathon P.; McCullough, J. Mac; Singh, Samunder; Sieger, Annie; Robins, Moriah; Fisher, John F.; Kuehnert, Paul; Castrucci, Brian C.

doi:10.1097/phh.0000000000001614

Cited by 18 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 15 publications

(34 reference statements)

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“…When considering whether to implement communitybased mental health promotion and prevention (MHPP) programs, cost estimation is essential for determining program affordability and advocating for program funding [1][2][3][4][5]. Stakeholder-driven, community-based MHPP programs are posited to provide cost-effectiveness [6].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A microcosting approach for planning and implementing community-based mental health prevention programs: what does it cost?

Roy,

Brown,

Blinn

et al. 2024

Health Econ Rev

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Background Estimating program costs when planning community-based mental health programs can be burdensome. Our aim was to retrospectively document the cost for the first year of planning and implementing Healthy Minds Healthy Communities (HMHC), a mental health promotion and prevention multi-level intervention initiative. This Program is among the first to use the Community Initiated Care (CIC) model in the US and is aimed at building community resilience and the capacity for communities to provide mental health support, particularly among those disproportionately impacted by COVID-19. Our objective is to share our methods for costing a program targeting 10 zip codes that are ethnically and linguistically diverse and provide an example for estimating the cost of a mental health prevention and promotion programs consisting of multiple evidence-based interventions. Methods We used a semi-structured interview process to collect cost data through the first year of program planning, start-up and initial implementation from key staff. We calculated costs for each activity, grouped them by major project categories, and identified the cost drivers of each category. We further validated cost estimates through extensive literature review. The cost analysis was done from the provider’s perspective, which included the implementing agency and its community partners. We delineated costs that were in-kind contributions to the program by other agency, and community partners. Sensitivity analyses were conducted to estimate uncertainty around parameters. Results For the first year of the development and implementation of the program, (funded through program and in-kind) is estimated at $1,382,669 (2022 US$). The costs for the three main activity domains for this project are: project management $135,822, community engagement $364,216 and design and execution $756,934. Overall, the cost drivers for the first year of this intervention were: hiring and onboarding staff, in-person community building/learning sessions, communications and marketing, and intervention delivery. Conclusion Implementation of community-based mental health promotion and prevention programs, when utilizing a participatory approach, requires a significant amount of upfront investment in program planning and development. A large proportion of this investment tends to be human capital input. Developing partnerships is a successful strategy for defraying costs.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A microcosting approach for planning and implementing community-based mental health prevention programs: what does it cost?

Roy,

Brown,

Blinn

et al. 2024

Health Econ Rev

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Given earlier findings that showed that most Ohio LHDs did not have enough staff to fully provide the FPHS in their communities, 10 these findings are in line with prior work that has shown that LHDs likely needed to reassign staff from other FPHS areas to support their pandemic response. 7,8 In addition to reassigning staff internally, many LHDs also hired additional temporary staff. In Ohio, the median number of temporary staff hired was 9 in FY 2020 and 10 in FY 2021.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…5 Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, state and local public health agencies lacked 80 000 full-time equivalent (FTE) staff to ensure full delivery of the Foundational Public Health Services (FPHS) in communities across the country. 6,7 As the pandemic unfolded, inadequate funding and limited staffing challenged public health agencies' capacity to respond to rapidly changing priorities. As a result, many agencies had to assign staff from other areas of public health practice to pandemic response.…”

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confidence: 99%

Estimating the Cost of the COVID-19 Response for Local Health Departments: Evidence From Ohio

Singh

2024

Journal of Public Health Management &Amp; Practice

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This study assessed the staffing allocations and associated costs incurred by Ohio local health departments (LHDs) in response to the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were extracted from the annual financial reports of Ohio LHDs for 2020 and 2021, encompassing a sample of 38 LHDs in 2020 and 60 LHDs in 2021. Descriptive analysis showed that Ohio LHDs committed substantial resources to responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. Although there was considerable variability across LHDs, median staffing and compensation collectively constituted 22% of total staffing and compensation. Multivariate regression analysis found minimal associations between the examined agency and community-level variables and the differences in staffing allocations and associated costs incurred by LHDs in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. After decades of underfunding and understaffing, securing sustainable funding will be crucial to equip LHDs across the country with the necessary resources to deliver comprehensive public health services in their communities.

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“…These recommendations could contribute to not only educating the population in basic public health principles but also help to alleviate the public health workforce shortage by introducing young adults to the field of public health. It is estimated that in the post-COVID-19 era, the local and state governmental public health workforce in the U.S. requires 80,000 full-time employees to deliver foundational public health services ( 19 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Institute of Medicine’s call to action revisited: assuring access to public health education for U.S. college students

Caron¹,

Aytur²,

Foster³

2023

Front. Public Health

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The Educated Citizen and Public Health initiative promotes that an understanding of public health issues is a principal component of an educated population and is necessary to develop social responsibility and promote civic dialog. This initiative supports the Institute of Medicine’s (now the National Academy of Medicine) recommendation that “all undergraduates should have access to education in public health.” The purpose of our work is to examine the extent to which 2- and 4-year U.S. state colleges and universities offer and/or require a public health course. Select indicators identified include the presence and type of public health curriculum, public health course requirement, presence of public health graduate program offering, pathways to public health, Community Health Worker training, as well as demographic information for each institution. An analysis was also conducted for the historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), and the same select indicators were examined. The data suggest that there is an imperative need for a public health curriculum across the nation’s collegiate institutions with 26% of 4-year state institutions lacking a full undergraduate public health curriculum; 54% of 2-year colleges not offering a pathway to public health education; and 74% of HBCUs not offering a public health course or degree. In the age of COVID-19, syndemics, and considering the post-pandemic phase, we argue that expanding public health literacy at the associate and baccalaureate level can help prepare an educated citizenry who is both public health literate and one that can demonstrate resilience in the face of public health challenges.

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Staffing Up and Sustaining the Public Health Workforce

Cited by 18 publications

References 15 publications

A microcosting approach for planning and implementing community-based mental health prevention programs: what does it cost?

A microcosting approach for planning and implementing community-based mental health prevention programs: what does it cost?

Estimating the Cost of the COVID-19 Response for Local Health Departments: Evidence From Ohio

The Institute of Medicine’s call to action revisited: assuring access to public health education for U.S. college students

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