The applicability of the UK Public Health Skills and Knowledge Framework to the practitioner workforce: lessons for competency framework development

Shickle, Darren; Stroud, Laura; Day, Matthew; Smith, Kevin

doi:10.1093/pubmed/fdy097

Cited by 5 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…There appeared to be several possible misconceptions about the intended use of the framework; for example, seeing the PHSKF as an 'either/ or' choice with registration, or seeing registration as an end in itself in terms of career progression rather than part of continuing professional development which contributes to sustained competence and career management. Our findings echo the two other UK studies which asked about knowledge and use of the PHSKF [10,11]. We do not know how effectively other competency frameworks have communicated their purposes to intended audiences due to the lack of published evaluations, but the UK experience suggests this may be a key issue the architects of other frameworks should consider.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 60%

“…The development of public health competency frameworks internationally would benefit from both further evaluative studies of individual national and regional frameworks and of comparative studies of different frameworks. Moreover, given the scarcity of evaluations of public health competency frameworks, there is a wider literature on the theoretical background to, and the evaluation of, competency frameworks in other professional settings and contexts, which evaluators of public health competency frameworks might usefully learn from [10,22,23].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A search on Medline, Embase, Ovid Emcare, Health Management Information Consortium, PsycInfo and Social Policy and Practice databases identified only three published peer-reviewed evaluations of public health competency frameworks, [10][11][12] two of which related to the 2016 UK Public Health Skills and Knowledge Framework (PHSKF) [10,11]. Shickle and colleagues conducted 15 qualitative group interviews with 51 public health practitioners in eight local authorities and found the PHSKF was viewed positively but no participants had previously read or utilised it [10]. Viens and Vass asked two questions about the PHSKF in a wider survey on public health ethics and found that only 38.4% of respondents reported accessing the PHSKF and only 13.7% accessed the accompanying background paper on ethical public health practice [11].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Evaluation of the UK Public Health Skills and Knowledge Framework (PHSKF): implications for international competency frameworks

2020

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Background: The value of competency frameworks for developing the public health workforce is widely acknowledged internationally. However, there is a lack of formal evaluations of such frameworks. In the UK, the Public Health Skills and Knowledge Framework (PHSKF) is a key tool for the public health workforce across the UK, and this study presents the evaluation of the PHSKF 2016 version, with the aim of reflecting on implications for international public health competency frameworks. Methods: A sequential explanatory design was employed. An online survey (n = 298) was completed with stakeholders across the four UK nations and different sectors. This was followed by 18 telephone interviews with stakeholders and survey completers. Quantitative results were analysed descriptively; qualitative transcripts were analysed with thematic analysis. Results: Most respondents had used the PHSKF occasionally or rarely, and most users found it useful (87%) and easy to use (82%). Main purposes of use included team/workforce development (e.g. setting of standards) and professional development (e.g. identify professional development opportunities). Some positive experiences emerged of uses of the PHSKF to support organisational redevelopments. However, 23% of respondents had never used the framework. Areas for improvement included greater clarity on purpose and audience, the need for more support from employers and for clear career progression opportunities, and stronger links with other competency frameworks.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 60%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Evaluation of the UK Public Health Skills and Knowledge Framework (PHSKF): implications for international competency frameworks

2020

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“…Although this model partially explains the aforementioned fragmentation and inconsistency in public health curricula occurring worldwide, which has contributed to calls for a single international framework, it is a way to address the inability of individual institutions to cover everything at the desirable breadth and depth. Indeed, Shickle, Stroud, Day and Smith 23 argue that “some, if not all, levels of the public health workforce do not need to be trained in all public health competencies”.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mapping competency frameworks: implications for public health curricula design

Coombe

Severinsen

Robinson

2022

Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health

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ublic health competency frameworks provide benchmarks for best practice in public health education and training and provide a potential basis for the sharing of core content across and between programs for equivalence. In many countries they also serve as a measure of competence in professional practice. We draw on the definition of competency provided by Gonzci 1 as an integrated set of knowledge, attitudes, values and skills required for intelligent performance for particular situations. Wong 2 argues that competency-based learning "promises greater accountability, flexibility and learner-centeredness. "

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“…While an increasing number of countries have specified competencies for public health and health promotion practice, the implementation and use of these competency frameworks varies greatly. Some countries specify a minimum level of competency expected of all public health workers, while others have different expectations for varying seniority (36).…”

Section: Core Competencies For Health Promotionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Strengthening health promotion practice: capacity development for a transdisciplinary field

Broucke

2021

Glob Health Promot

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The growing burden of non-communicable and newly emerging communicable diseases, multi-morbidity, increasing health inequalities, the health effects of climate change and natural disasters and the revolution in communication technology require a shift of focus towards more preventive, people-centred and community-based health services. This has implications for the health workforce, which needs to develop new capacities and skills, many of which are at the core of health promotion. Health promotion is thus being mainstreamed into modern public health. For health promotion, this offers both opportunities and challenges. A stronger focus on the enablers of health enhances the strategic importance of health promotion’s whole-of-society approach to health, showcases the achievements of health promotion with regard to core professional competencies, and helps build public health capacity with health promotion accents. On the other hand, mainstreaming health promotion can weaken its organizational capacity and visibility, and bears the risk of it being absorbed into a traditional public health discourse dominated by medical professions. To address these challenges and grasp the opportunities, it is essential for the health promotion workforce to position itself within the diversifying primary care and public health field. Taking the transdisciplinary status of health promotion and existing capacity development systems in primary and secondary prevention and health promotion as reference points, this paper considers the possibilities to integrate and implement health promotion capacities within and across disciplinary boundaries, arguing that the contribution of health promotion to public health development lies in the complementary nature of specialist and mainstreamed health promotion.

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The applicability of the UK Public Health Skills and Knowledge Framework to the practitioner workforce: lessons for competency framework development

Abstract: Further development of the PHSKF is required to provide guidance on how it should be used for practitioners and other members of the public health workforce. Empirical research can help benchmark knowledge/skills for workforce levels so improving the utility of competency frameworks.

Cited by 5 publications

References 5 publications

Evaluation of the UK Public Health Skills and Knowledge Framework (PHSKF): implications for international competency frameworks

Evaluation of the UK Public Health Skills and Knowledge Framework (PHSKF): implications for international competency frameworks

Mapping competency frameworks: implications for public health curricula design

Strengthening health promotion practice: capacity development for a transdisciplinary field

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