March 2008
Regional leadership institute impacts individuals, funding for services
Chateau Margaux, Beemster Classic Extra Aged Gouda, Southeast Public Health Leadership Institute. What do they have in common? It's simple. They all improve with age.
The Southeast Public Health Leadership Institute (SEPHLI) proudly celebrates ten years of contributions to public health leadership development in the southeastern United States. SEPHLI has coached more than 350 senior and mid-level managers in leadership skills to improve public health. While the program has improved over time, the fundamental goals remain: to enhance leadership skills, to foster an effective public health network of leaders, and to strengthen relationships between practitioners and scholars.
The final evaluation for SEPHLI's Year 10 class indicates that all scholars who graduated were exceptionally happy with their experience in the program. Scholars strongly indicated that they would recommend the SEPHLI program to colleagues, citing enhanced perspectives, increased awareness and understanding of leadership styles, and development of professional networks.
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| Laura Conner |
Laura Conner, the Roane County public health director in Rockwood, Tennessee, said this about her SEPHLI experience:
“[SEPHLI] has been one of the best things that I've done for my own professional development as well as the development of my staff. There are so many things that I've been able to take away—networking with other professionals, the individual growth and development that I've been able to accomplish.”
In addition to general leadership perspectives, many scholars also described gaining increased appreciation for public health and commitment to a long-term career in the field. As one remarked, “SEPHLI enabled me to see the bigger picture of public health and forced me to get out of my shell and understand there are more hardworking dedicated people in public health than are not. I am proud to be where I am.”
Graduates overwhelmingly agreed that participation in SEPHLI increased their understanding of their leadership style and how to use that understanding to interact more productively with others. One leader explained, “Understanding my leadership style, and how I'm different from others, has helped me adjust to be a better leader.”
Another reported gain was the expansion of professional networks. As one graduate put it, “One thing that significantly helped me personally grow as a leader is the networking, getting to know other leaders in neighboring states–their challenges and successes, and hearing from successful leaders.”
The majority also strongly agreed that the program increased their willingness to take on new leadership challenges, and improved their confidence to lead their organizations through those challenges. One scholar said, “SEPHLI gave me the self-confidence to lead, and I can still [produce] achievements even if there are challenges.”
Scholars also strongly agreed that SEPHLI strengthened their skills in dealing with the media, communicating on public health issues, working with teams, working to improve health in the community, resolving conflicts, and negotiating with others.
In brief interviews at graduation, scholars described some of these gains in more detail. Here are some excerpts:
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| Patty Dod Lolas |
Patty Dod Lolas, director of the Office of Planning for the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC), successfully cultivated her SEPHLI project and watched it grow into a statewide administrative management guide for the agency. Her efforts were instrumental in bringing consistency and efficiency to administrative functions in the eight DHEC regions in the face of budget cuts and staff turnover.
When asked how SEPHLI contributed, Patty explained:
“SEPHLI pulled us away from our everyday lives and into an environment where we could meet with other people, hear some excellent speakers, and really focus on who we are as individuals and as leaders. It also helped us identify our strengths and celebrate those and gave us skills on how to improve our weaknesses—which I think ultimately has helped a lot of us do a better job not only in our work, but also in our daily lives.”
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| Phyllis Allen |
Phyllis Allen, director of nutrition with South Carolina DHEC, used the perspectives she gained at SEPHLI to improve the classification and compensation system for the state's public health nutritionists. Phyllis elaborated:
“SEPHLI really taught a lot about looking at your past to see where you need to go to come forward. Helping your staff to see your vision and being clear [about] it is what a leader needs to do. The experience and having all of the supporting information in what you received [in SEPHLI was beneficial].”
Perhaps some of the most important contributions from SEPHLI are demonstrated in the procurement of funding for essential programs. Lynda Kettinger, director of the STD/HIV Division of the South Carolina DHEC, used her SEPHLI project experience to successfully lead a Task Force to advocate for additional state funds to expand HIV treatment and care services.
Lynda identified aspects of SEPHLI that contributed to the success of her project:
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| Lynda Kettinger |
'At our December SEPHLI retreat there were two key concepts shared that helped me. The first was [NCIPH Director] Dr. Ed Baker's message [about how] ‘conversations vs. presentations' is a better mode of leadership style. Telling stories, sharing experiences that help people understand and care about our issue is how I tried to use Dr. Baker's message. The second was Lisa Harrison's sharing of Steven Covey's principle, 'Begin with the end in mind.' I kept this principle in mind often, such as planning remarks for the press conference, providing updates to our Commissioner and other leaders about this issue, planning media talking points prior to an interview, etc.”
SEPHLI welcomed class 11 in December of 2007 and will host their spring retreat for scholars April 30-May 2 in Nashville, Tennessee.
Please visit the SEPHLI Web site for more information at www.sephli.org.
To view the evaluation report in its entirety, please visit www.sephli.org/evaluation_report. For more information about this program, please contact its director, Lisa Macon Harrison, at Lisa_Harrison@unc.edu or 919.843.5559.
Incubator study measures impact of county collaboratives
The NC Public Health Incubator Collaboratives (NC PHICs) are teams of local health departments working together to address pressing local public health issues. Six NC PHICs (Western, Northwest, Central, South Central, Southern Piedmont, Northeastern) have been formed, representing 82 counties.
Institute evaluators Molly Cannon, MPH, and Mary Davis, DrPH, were asked to examine the experiences of the six collaboratives to determine if the Incubators are providing value to member health departments. The evaluation covered projects that occurred between August, 2005, and July, 2007, and included surveys of health directors, incubator managers, and NC Division of Public Health personnel, and review of incubator progress reports.
Some key findings:
• Benefits to local health agencies. 62% of health directors that responded to the survey mostly or strongly agreed that regional projects benefit local health agencies. When asked what the greatest benefit of the Incubator Collaboratives was to their health departments, health directors noted the following: collaboration on projects; opportunities to network; access to resources; the ability to leverage funds; and helping to understand public health problems.
• Increased level and effectiveness of services delivered.
• Increased shared resources. As one survey noted, “Five new grants were written primarily in our most under-resourced counties—work that likely would not have been accomplished without this project.”
• Increased equity of service delivery to incubator populations. Examples include working with small businesses to provide health insurance for their employees, creation and dissemination of a video on social justice and health disparities, and a diabetes project targeting minority populations.
• Fostered innovative projects, such as the Western Partnership's survey of the elderly and developing a pilot to address the health needs of a rapidly aging population.
• Increased opportunities to solve common problems.
• Improved health outcomes. For example, as a result of the Northeast Partnership's Teen Tobacco Prevention Initiative, 95% of schools in northeastern North Carolina have been designated as smoke-free.
One significant statistic from the 2005 NC Youth Tobacco Survey is that high school smoking rates, while high at 20%, have declined by more than ten percentage points. Middle school smoking in North Carolina has dropped from 15% to 5.8%, lower than the national average.
NC Public Health Incubator Collaboratives are providing value to member health departments. One health director described the Incubator Collaboratives as “one of the most innovative ideas that NC Public Health has had in decades." However, additional administrative funding is needed to help institutionalize Incubators and facilitate more innovative projects.
For more examples of the work of the NC PHICs, visit: www.sph.unc.edu/nciph/incubator. NCIPH is the NC PHIC Administrator, facilitating Incubator activities and managing the program.
A legacy course: Management and Supervision for Public Health Nurse Supervisors and Directors
In 1961 the chief public health nurse at the North Carolina Department of Health, an industrial psychologist, and faculty members at the UNC School of Public Health in Chapel Hill launched a pioneer course for public health nurses.
Management and Supervision for Public Health Nurse Supervisors and Directors was filling a need in local health departments as staffs grew and nurses came to public health well-versed in nursing skills and loaded with dedication, but lacking business knowledge and supervisory training.
That legacy of filling an educational need with relevant training continues with the Institute's Office of Continuing Education, which continues offering the Management and Supervision course to public health nurse-managers each year.
“Begun in the 1960's, you can probably say this course was a precursor to the Management Academy for Public Health and the leadership institutes that so many career professionals now attend,” said Steve Hicks, director of workforce development at NCIPH.
Tom Parker, one of the early instructors, recalls that the early sessions were held at industrial education centers, which later became part of North Carolina's Community College System.
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Estelle Fulp, Tom Parker, Nancy Tigar, and Rachel Stevens were the pioneers and now Joy Reed, head of Public Health Nursing and Professional Development, and Hazel Moore, continuing education specialist at UNC, carry the torch. The latest group began the three-week experience on the GlaxoSmithKline Campus in Research Triangle Park in February.
Chatting over their lunch break, participants were animated about the power of this type of training. Comments ranged from “I wish I had come earlier in my career” to “This should be required.”
Some topics have been part of the history of Management and Supervision, such as managing on limited resources, communication, fiscal management, team building and mentoring. But many acknowledge the value of learning about Internet resources, technology for managing data, strategic planning, and accreditation.
Everyone agreed that a major task for all those in public health today is succession planning, as projections indicate that 30-50% of public health managers will retire in the next five years. “We have to be proactive about planning for the future,” voiced one nursing director.
There are 2,973 public health nurses in North Carolina, the largest workforce category in local public health departments statewide. Says Hazel Moore, who coordinates the annual Management and Supervision course, “From immunizations to disease detection and monitoring to providing health education and information to the public, public health nurses prevent disease and protect the public. Investing in their training pays dividends to us all.”
For information about this course, go to www.sph.unc.edu/oce.
Preparedness Center launches a new look for the new year
The North Carolina Center for Public Health Preparedness (NCCPHP) opened the year with a new look for its Web site, nccphp.sph.unc.edu. Staff members worked to create a Web site that is more informative and user-friendly, from a new navigation bar that groups like resources together to the site's overall graphic design.
As part of this re-design, NCCPHP has also updated its Training Web Site (nccphp.sph.unc.edu/training) to improve overall organization and navigation. The new site allows users to browse trainings by general topic (like epidemiology or professional resources), search by a keyword (like avian influenza or cohort studies), or see a list of all trainings by title. There's also a page featuring the newest trainings, to show at a glance what's been added recently.
NCCPHP staff have also reviewed all online trainings for accuracy and quality and updated many older trainings, so users can be sure they're viewing a training with value. Just as in the past, registered users will continue to receive the Monthly Update electronic newsletter highlighting new training materials published by NCCPHP in the past month as well as announcements of other training opportunities.
From the Director, Ed Baker, MD, MPH
At a recent gathering of all Institute staff, I asked, “What made you particularly proud of your work in 2007?" Clearly, the work we do in the North Carolina Institute for public health makes us proud as we seek to serve our state and lead the nation. The list of accomplishments was long and I would like to share some of these with you.
Some were expressing general statements such as helping local health departments meet their goals, helping people learn, and developing staff. Others mention successful partnership experiences, such as conferences that we organize, including the One Medicine Conference, the Minority Health Conference, and the School Nurse Conference. Even others noted growth of existing programs such as the Field Epidemiology Certificate, the executive education database, and the Certificate in Core Public Health Concepts.
Another source of particular pride is the successful competition for new grants or renewal of existing grant-supported programs, including the Management Academy for Public Health, Active Living by Design, the Southeast Public Health Leadership Institute, the national Public Health Leadership Institute, and the Center for Public Health Preparedness. In each instance, teams from the Institute worked tirelessly to develop strong, competitive grant proposals which are favorably reviewed and funded by a variety of funding partners. We are particularly proud of our partnerships with these funders, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Health Resources and Services Administration, the Robert Wood Johnson foundation, the WK Kellogg Foundation, and the Duke Endowment.
Others expressed particular pride in being central to innovations such as our public health agency accreditation program, which serves the state of North Carolina and is a model for the nation in the area of performance improvement and accreditation. Others expressed pride in work designed to serve partners around the world through distance education or through targeted technical assistance activities. Clearly, Institute staff see themselves as being part of innovating public health practice and also serving those who serve the public's health across the state, throughout the nation and around the world.
Finally, and most importantly, Institute staff express pride in recruitment of new staff to our fantastic Institute team. I too am proud of all of these accomplishments and most importantly of the exceptional team at the North Carolina Institute for Public Health. We're pleased to be able to serve those who practice public health in our state and more broadly, and we're happy to share our work with you in this Impact issue.
Applications being accepted for Field Epi Certificate summer session
The online Certificate in Field Epidemiology is now accepting applications for Summer 2008. The application deadline is April 18, 2008; there is no application fee and the program does not require standardized test scores.
The program has graduated 75 students who have been overwhelmingly satisfied with both the quality of the course and the faculty interaction; 100% of graduates surveyed said they would recommend the program to others and that the program was worth the time and effort. As one recent graduate commented, “It has made my job easier and more enjoyable.”
The Certificate in Field Epidemiology should be considered essential for staff in state and local public health departments who would like more training in field epidemiology. Others who would benefit from the program include those who perform epidemiological tasks but who have limited or no formal epidemiology education, those currently pursuing a degree in a related field at a college or university who wish to supplement their program, and those wishing to pursue an MPH and expecting to use these credits towards that goal.
The Certificate in Field Epidemiology is a 12-credit hour program of study that addresses the core functions of outbreak investigation, surveillance systems and methods, infectious disease epidemiology, and field epidemiology methods. All courses have been designed and developed for delivery via the Internet. Students will be able to register, receive materials, interact with faculty, order books, and successfully complete this program without traveling to campus. A connection to the Internet is all that is required.
To learn more and apply online, visit www.sph.unc.edu/nciph/fieldepi/
Accreditation news
David Stone, health director in Surry County, North Carolina, has joined the Institute as local health department accreditation administrator. Stone is a graduate of N.C. State University and the California College of Health Sciences, San Diego. He is a past president of the North Carolina Public Health Association.
North Carolina is the first state to require local health departments to become accredited, demonstrating an ability to deliver services consistently to its constituents. The credentialing process is a joint program of the N.C. Division of Public Health and the Institute.
ASTHO awards state performance improvement grants
The Association of State and Territorial Health Officials has recently awarded two contracts to NCIPH to help states prepare for national accreditation and develop performance improvement plans for their departments. The project, directed by Dr. Ed Baker, NCIPH director, will feature collaboration with accreditation and performance improvement experts to develop an accreditation toolkit that will provide support to state health departments as they prepare for the voluntary national accreditation program. Toolkit development will be a rigorous process that will include extensive research into existing tools, assessing state health department needs, and field testing the product.
A second compoment of the project will involve providing consultation through a trained team of experts to state health departments that are interested in developing quality and performance improvement plans and preparing for accreditation in their states.
Partners for both of these efforts include the North Carolina Division of Public Health, the Public Health Foundation, the Public Health Informatics Institute, and the Center for Medicine at Florida State University College of Medicine.
NC Accreditation offers insights to Public Health Accreditation Board
The National Public Health Accreditation Board has been working on setting up key committees to conduct its work. North Carolina is well represented on these committees. Dr. Joy Reed of DPH has been appointed to the Standards Workgroup and as a result of that, to the new ASTHO Performance Improvement Committee; Dr. Rachel Stevens has been appointed to the Equivalency Workgroup; and Dr. Mary Davis to the Research and Evaluation Workgroup. Visit the National Public Health Accrediation Board's Web site at www.phaboard.org.
State's pilot accreditation report released
The North Carolina Institute for Public Health and North Carolina Division of Public Health are pleased to announce the release of the North Carolina Pilot State Accreditation Stakeholder Evaluation Report. NCIPH conducted the evaluation of the Division of Public Health and Division of Environmental Health's pilot self assessment and site visit review process. The evaluation analyzes these processes and provides recommendations to the Public Health Accreditation Board for developing the state accreditation process. This evaluation was part of North Carolina's Multi-state Learning Collaborative 2 project. The Multi-State Learning Collaborative is sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the National Network of Public Health Institutes.
For more information, at NCIPH contact Mary V. Davis,
DrPH, MSPH at mvdavis@email.unc.edu,
or at NC DPH contact Denise Pavletic, MPH at denise.pavletic@ncmail.net.
The report is available as follows:
NCIPH MLC 2 website: nciph.sph.unc.edu/mlc/EvaluationSynopsis.pdf
NC DPH website: www.ncpublichealth.com/phPerfImp/EvaluationSynopsis.pdf
Grad students assist Institute program research and evaluation
With over 20 programs to be reviewed each year, Institute evaluator Dr. Karl Umble values the help of Carolina School of Public Health graduate students.
For two years, students have been central to a project studying how graduates of the Management Academy for Public Health have changed their management practices and implemented business plans since attending this Institute program.
Two students, Kimberley Freire and Margot Mahannah, have presented study findings at state and national conferences and published two “Evaluation Updates,” which are distributed to program graduates and other public health managers. The team also published “Creating Public Health Teams that Work” in the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice and is working on two other journal articles. Rebecca Davis and Aiko Hattori, both MPH students, were also involved in Management Academy study.
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| Kimberley Freire |
Kimberley Freire is from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. She lived several years in Boston, where she completed her master's in public health and worked for the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. Freire will defend her dissertation and graduate from the UNC Department of Health Behavior and Health Education this spring. Her dissertation title is “The Influence of Parental Socialization on Adolescent Alcohol Misuse.” She is currently looking for evaluation positions.
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| Margot Mahannah |
With a BA from UNC-CH, Margot Mahannah came back to Chapel Hill to the School of Public Health for an MPH in Health Behavior and Health Education. Margot hails from Berkeley, California, and is currently looking for jobs nationwide to work as a public health practitioner once she graduates in May.
“One of the benefits of working at the Institute is the real world experience in monitoring and evaluation. Concepts learned in the classroom came to life with real world application while participating in evaluation studies at the Institute,” says Mahannah.
She also cites the experience she has gained at the Institute as playing a big part in her success as a summer intern, and now a consultant for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in Tanzania. Her experience as part of the evaluation team enabled her to develop analytical skills and apply critical and strategic thinking to all facets of the work she does with HIV/AIDS programs in Tanzania.
