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The public health workforce broadly-across disciplines, tiers, and settings-requires strategic skills to advance population health outcomes. In early 2020, the Region V Public Health Training Center conducted a competency-based training needs assessment survey with all 501 local health departments in the 6-state region, including small agencies that were previously excluded from available national data sources. Health officials or designees from 290 agencies responded (58% response rate) with perspectives regarding the ability of their staff to sufficiently apply strategic skills. Findings highlight training needs among the region's local governmental public health workforce and differences in those needs by the size of population served by the agency. Notable training priorities include the skill domains of Budgeting & Financial Management and Change Management, among others., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Public health workforce size and composition have been difficult to accurately determine because of the wide variety of methods used to define job title terms, occupational categories, and worker characteristics. In 2014, a preliminary consensus-based public health workforce taxonomy was published to standardize the manner in which workforce data are collected and analyzed by outlining uniform categories and terms. We summarize development of the taxonomy's 2017 iteration and provide guidelines for its implementation in public health workforce development efforts. To validate its utility, the 2014 taxonomy was pilot tested through quantitative and qualitative methods to determine whether further refinements were necessary. Pilot test findings were synthesized, themed by axis, and presented for review to an 11-member working group drawn from the community of experts in public health workforce development who refined the taxonomy content and structure through a consensus process. The 2017 public health workforce taxonomy consists of 287 specific classifications organized along 12 axes, intended for producing standardized descriptions of the public health workforce. The revised taxonomy provides enhanced clarity and inclusiveness for workforce characterization and will aid public health workforce researchers and workforce planning decision makers in gathering comparable, standardized data to accurately describe the public health workforce.

Objective: Approximately 25% of the public health workforce plans to retire by 2020. Succession planning is a core capability of the governmental public health enterprise; however, limited data are available regarding these efforts in state health agencies (SHAs)., Methods: We analyzed 2016 Workforce Gaps Survey data regarding succession planning in SHAs using the US Office of Personnel Management's (OPM's) succession planning model, including 6 domains and 27 activities. Descriptive statistics were calculated for all 41 responding SHAs., Results: On average, SHAs self-reported adequately addressing 11 of 27 succession planning activities, with 93% of SHAs adequately addressing 1 or more activities and 61% adequately addressing 1 or more activities in each domain., Conclusions: The majority of OPM-recommended succession planning activities are not being addressed, and limited succession planning occurs across SHAs. Greater activity in the OPM-identified succession planning domains may help SHAs contend with significant turnover and better preserve institutional knowledge.

Objective: A public health workforce taxonomy was published in 2014 to provide a standardized mechanism for describing public health worker characteristics. The Public Health Workforce Interests and Needs Survey (PH WINS) used 7 of the taxonomy's 12 axes as a basis for its survey response choices, 3 of which are the focus of this analysis. The purpose of this study was to determine the relative utility, reliability, and accuracy of the public health workforce taxonomy in categorizing local and state public health workers using a survey tool. This specifically included the goal of reducing the number of responses classified as "other" occupation, certification, or program area by recoding responses into taxonomy categories and determining potential missing categories for recommendation to the advisory committee that developed the taxonomy., Design: Survey questions associated with the occupation, certification, and program area taxonomy axes yielded qualitative data from respondents who selected "other." The "other" responses were coded by 2 separate research teams at the University of Michigan Center of Excellence in Public Health Workforce Studies and NORC at the University of Chicago., Main Outcome Measures: Researchers assigned taxonomy categories to all analyzable qualitative responses and assessed the percentage of PH WINS responses that could be successfully mapped to taxonomy categories., Results: Between respondent self-selection and research team recoding, the public health workforce taxonomy successfully categorized 95% of occupation responses, 75% of credential responses, and 83% of program area responses. Occupational categories that may be considered for inclusion in the taxonomy in the future include disease intervention specialists and occupations associated with regulation, certification, and licensing., Conclusions: The public health workforce taxonomy performed remarkably well in categorizing worker characteristics in its first use in a national survey. The analysis provides some recommendations for future taxonomy refinement.

Objectives: Ensuring adequate capacity to address population health concerns has challenged public health for decades. Organizational and workforce characteristics are theorized to contribute to organizational capacity. This article considers 2 possible quantitative measures of organizational capacity using public health, environmental, and agricultural laboratories (PHEALs) as the unit of interest and tests their associations with workforce and human resources variables., Design: The National Laboratory Capacity Assessment was developed by the University of Michigan Center of Excellence in Public Health Workforce Studies and the Association of Public Health Laboratories. Online data collection took place from July to September 2011. All statistical analyses were performed in 2013., Setting: US PHEALs were invited to participate in the study. All study participants were Association of Public Health Laboratories members., Participants: The Association of Public Health Laboratories distributed the National Laboratory Capacity Assessment survey to 105 PHEAL directors in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, including 50 state public health laboratories, 41 local public health laboratories, 8 environmental laboratories, and 6 agricultural laboratories., Main Outcome Measures: Logistic regression analyses were performed to assess relationships between outcome measures of overall capacity and averaged program capacity and variables representing characteristics of PHEALs and their workforce, including number of workers, proportion of scientists, education, experience, training, and equipment quality., Results: The survey achieved a 76% response rate. Both capacity models showed that PHEALs offering an array of training opportunities are 4 times more likely to report higher capacity scores. One model showed a positive association between workforce size and capacity. Worker education and equipment quality were negatively associated with capacity in both models., Conclusions: The findings of this study provide empirical evidence that some workforce factors may influence organizational capacity of PHEALs. Techniques used to measure capacity and workforce factors must be improved to produce consistent findings across public health organizational data sets.

This article reviews the activities of an office of public health practice in a school of public health (SPH) and assesses their impact on master's of public health student training and education. The University of Michigan SPH established a Practice Office in 2005 to develop programs in community-based public health, workforce development, student training, and practice-based research. Student training objectives included increasing practice activity offerings and participation rates, ensuring participant satisfaction with activities, and raising the number of students seeking public health practice employment. According to student survey results from the 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 academic years, the Practice Office achieved mixed success in meeting objectives. Approximately 50% of students participated in at least 1 activity, nearly 50% of students reported that the activities impacted their decision to pursue a practice career, and approximately 75% of students reported moderate to extensive public health practice experience on graduation, compared with 30% at the beginning of their degree program, although this change was not significantly different for those who had participated in Practice Office activities. Initiation of a systematic process to evaluate the impact of practice-based activities early in program development is recommended for all Practice Offices.

Objectives: To assess the number of epidemiologists and national epidemiology capacity, the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists surveyed state health departments in 2001, 2004, and 2006. This article summarizes findings of the 2006 assessment, analyzes trends in epidemiology workforce, and examines statistical associations between the number of epidemiologists and measures of capacity., Methods: The on-line surveys collected information from 50 states and the District of Columbia about the number of epidemiologists employed, their training and educational background, program capacity, organizational structure, and funding sources. The State Epidemiologists and/or their designees answered the questionnaire., Results: The number of epidemiologists in state health departments increased approximately 40 percent from 2001 to 2006. All programs except occupational health experienced increase in the number of epidemiologists; the greatest increase occurred in bioterrorism programs. Estimated epidemiology capacity increased in all programs except environmental health and occupational health. The Epidemiology Capacity Assessment survey indicates that state health departments need 30 percent more epidemiologists. A linear correlation existed between the number of epidemiologists and state population., Conclusions: Federal emergency preparedness funding supported most of the increase in epidemiologists, which could fall as funding decreases. To function at full capacity, states need approximately one epidemiologist per 100 000 population for all program areas. Current estimates of workforce capacity need to be refined.