Impact - A Quarterly Newsletter

March 2008

Regional leadership institute impacts individuals, funding for services
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. More...

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. More...

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. More...

UNC-SPH grad students Kim Freire and Margot Mahannah

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. More...

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. More...

Active Living by Design adds program to fight childhood obesity The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has selected Active Living by Design, a program of the North Carolina Institute for Public Health, to lead a new five-year, $44 million initiative to help reverse childhood obesity. The program will support environmental and policy change strategies in communities throughout the nation where children are at greatest risk for childhood obesity. More information will be available at www.activelivingbydesign.org in the coming months.

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. More...