State of public health emergency response leadership training: A multitiered organizational perspective

Abstract

Objective: To capture organizational level information on the current state of public health emergency response leadership training.Design: A web-based questionnaire.Participants: This multitiered assessment of health departments included two distinct respondent groups: (1) Public Health Emergency Preparedness (PHEP) Cooperative Agreement recipients (n = 34) and (2) local health departments (LHDs) (n = 169) representative of different agency sizes and populations served.Results: Overall, PHEP and LHD respondents expressed a clear preference for participatory learning with practical drills/exercises and participatory workshops as the preferred training delivery modes. Compared with technical and role-specific training, leadership training was less available. For both PHEP and LHD respondents, staff availability for training is most notably limited due to lack of time. For PHEP respondents, a common factor limiting agency ability to offer training is lack of mentors/instructors, whereas for LHD respondents, it is limited funding.Conclusions: Efforts should focus on increasing accessibility and the continued development of rigorous and effective training based on practical experience in all aspects of multitiered public health emergency response leadership.

Qualitative Insights From Governmental Public Health Employees About Experiences Serving During the COVID-19 Pandemic, PH WINS 2021

“…Agency leaders are unfortunately limited in their agency resources and their fiscal and legal authorities, which were challenged during the pandemic and in many cases reduced 19–22. Indeed, some of the leadership issues expressed were about financial resources and limitations to when they are provided and for what,23–25 but other leadership issues raised related to skills that can be enhanced among leaders and decision makers within agencies (eg, communication, leading under pressure) 26–30…”

“…[19][20][21][22] Indeed, some of the leadership issues expressed were about financial resources and limitations to when they are provided and for what, [23][24][25] but other leadership issues raised related to skills that can be enhanced among leaders and decision makers within agencies (eg, communication, leading under pressure). [26][27][28][29][30] Although many negative comments about leadership were identified, positive comments about teamwork are a reminder of how important the collective sense of working together can be. Insights about teamwork in this study align with prior findings from the Scales and colleagues 14 interviews of public health employees.…”