DIRECTOR'S NOTE
Each year, we communicate with you, our stakeholders, about our past year’s work. Some of you are front-line or administrative professionals in the field, others in academia, and still others are elected leaders in our cities, counties and state.
While each of us may approach our work in various ways, we share a common vision of keeping North Carolinians healthy.
At the North Carolina Institute for Public Health, we provide training to prepare public health professionals to meet new and emerging health issues. We provide technical assistance to local public health agencies to enhance and evaluate their work. We offer outstanding scholarship and research to inform the tasks for our current workforce and to inspire the next generation of public health professionals.
Last year, we showed you our work by the numbers. This year, we take our report one step further incorporating maps to show you our reach across the state and beyond.
In service,
Anna P. Schenck, PhD, MSPH
Director, North Carolina Institute for Public Health and the Public Health Leadership Program
Associate Dean for Public Health Practice, UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health
FY 2015 Success Highlights:
Delivered top-notch training
to public health professionals in North Carolina and beyond
Provided expert technical assistance
to public health, healthcare, and other professionals
Communicated far-reaching research
to advance knowledge
TOP-NOTCH TRAINING
Our primary mission is to provide top-notch training for our state’s public health workforce. We offer these learning opportunities in partnership with other academic departments, through contracts with state agencies, and with community-based organizations across the state.
In FY 2015, we met the training needs of our diverse workforce.
We offered
359
training opportunities
We trained
31,516
public health and allied professionals
We served
11,455
North Carolina-based participants
In partnership with the NC Division of Public Health, we provided training for the following:
- 39 public health workers in 27 counties eager to grow within the profession (Management and Supervision for Public Health Professionals)
- 61 nurses who improved their ability to conduct physical assessments on adults and to screen for sexually transmitted diseases (Enhanced Role Nurse Training)
- 214 board of health members who want to become better leaders in their communities (Roles and Responsibilities for Local Public Health Governing Boards)
- 85 nurses in 48 counties who needed a comprehensive introduction to serving in the public health arena (Principles and Practices of Public Health Nursing), see map below
Principles and Practices of Public Health Nursing: Course Cohort
Fall 2014
Spring 2015
Fall 2014 & Spring 2015
Counts within counties represent number of completions, May 2014 to June 2015
Training participants commented:
This conference was amazing and I have already started putting this valuable information to use in the work place.
This course is a solid foundation for me as a new supervisor… Since I completed the course I understand my team better and I have more confidence when making decisions.
In FY15, we provided safety and health education training to
3,562
individuals across the state
The North Carolina Occupational Safety and Health Education and Research Center (NC-OSHERC) is one of 18 Education and Research Centers in the U.S. NC-OSHERC offers training on occupational and environmental health and safety topics to those in private industry and governmental agencies.
We partnered with others to train
57
public health practitioners in Evidence-Based Strategies for Public Health Practice Training
Over the course of two days, NC-based public health practitioners learned to identify, tailor and implement evidence-based strategies in local settings. Our partners for this dynamic training included: UNC’s Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, the Center for Public Health Quality, the Granville-Vance District Health Department, the Center for Healthy North Carolina, and Eastern Area Health Education Center.
Public health practitioners training in evidence-based strategies.
We offered conference support services. This year, we provided a variety of support services for the following events:
- 31st Annual School Nurse Conference
- 36th Annual Minority Health Conference
- 2015 NC Child Hunger Leaders Conference
- 2015 North Carolina Child Care Health Consultant Association Annual Conference
- 2015 Water Microbiology Conference
- 2015 Water and Health Conference
In FY15, NCIPH staff managed
2,256
conference registrations
EXPERT TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE
The types of technical assistance we provided this year ran the gamut.
29
The number of requests we fielded to support the state’s Area Health Education Centers in their engagement efforts with local public health agencies.
We worked with 7 of 9 Area Health Education Centers (AHECs) across the state whose staff asked the Institute for help to improve skills in cultural competency, social marketing, evidence-based strategies, and strategic planning and leadership development. In response, we provided the expertise ourselves or reached within the School to provide the assistance needed.
AHEC Map
Mountain AHEC
Northwest AHEC
Charlotte AHEC
Greensboro AHEC
Southern Regional AHEC
Wake AHEC
South East AHEC
Area L AHEC
Eastern AHEC
Checkmarks indicate AHECs we worked with, per map labeling.
We evaluated the reach of the 5th Annual NC Science Festival for the Morehead Planetarium and Science Center.
149 host organizations sponsored 350 festival events. Our evaluation identified an additional 630 organizations that participated this year with 1,632 connections between host and participating organizations.
NC Science Festival Map
The 2015 NC Science Festival efforts were divided into six regions across the state.
The Institute administered the NC Local Health Department Accreditation Program, which supports enhanced quality and performance all 85 NC local health departments. This year, 23 local health departments received renewed accreditation.
- Albemarle Regional Health Services
- Bladen County Health Department
- Cherokee County Health Department
- Columbus County Health Department
- Gaston County Health Department
- Graham County Health Department
- Greene County Health Department
- Guilford County Health Department
- Hertford County Public Health Authority
- Iredell County Health Department
- Jackson County Health Department
- Johnston County Health Department
- Jones County Health Department
- Mecklenburg County Health Department
- Montgomery County Health Department
- Pamlico County Health Department
- Pitt County Health Department
- Robeson County Health Department
- Rockingham County Health Department
- Rutherford‐Polk‐McDowell (RPM) Health District
- Sampson County Health Department
- Union County Division of Public Health
- Wilkes County Health Department
The Network for Public Health Law provided information across the Southeastern Region.
279
Answers Received
Housed at the Institute, the Network for Public Health Law answered 279 requests this year for information and/or technical assistance from the Southeastern Region and beyond, on a wide range of topics including the duties and authority of physician assistants, nurse practitioners and dental hygienists.
States and territories included in the Southeastern Region
In recognition of the work The Network for Public Health Law accomplishes, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation renewed its support for another two years.
We partnered with the Granville-Vance District Health Department to customize and evaluate a targeted public health campaign.
In Vance County, chlamydia rates are 87% higher than the NC average (2013 data). Most cases occur in young adults ages 15–24. With funding from the Triangle North Foundation, we worked with the Granville-Vance District Health Department and People Designs to create an integrated public health campaign, Talk | Test | Protect about the dangers of going untested and untreated for chlamydia.
11.8
%
The percentage increase in the mean number of monthly chlamydia tests administered in Vance County during the intervention period
We helped seven school districts across the state pilot the new School Health App.
7
School Health App Pilots
The School Health App will help public school districts track disease symptom data, enhance nurse productivity and expand local public health department capacity to conduct timely disease surveillance.
School Health App Pilots
Counts in parentheses show nurses using app.
Cleveland County Schools (16)
Iredell-Statesville Schools (17)
Thomasville City Schools (16)
Cabarrus County Schools (49)
Durham Public Schools (11)
Bertie County Schools (5)
Jones County Public Schools (4)
FAR-REACHING SCHOLARSHIP AND RESEARCH
In FY15 we enhanced student understanding of the practice of public health. We collaborated with partners to conduct research. We broadly disseminated our research products.
PHield Trips
To bolster our student’s learning, we hosted student PHield Trips to four diverse public health settings, sponsored a series of presentations featuring practice topics, and connected students with volunteer opportunities.
These activities reached over
500
staff, faculty, students and partners
Students visit the new state public health laboratory.
Student team ready to educate the public.
Students learn about real-life practice from professionals at RTI.
Students learn about the importance of using multiple media channels to spread the word about public health.
Collaborating with others in the University and across the nation, Institute researchers delved into topics such as:
- First responder access to naloxone,
- Evidence-based public health training resources,
- Measuring public health services and outcomes,
- Partnerships for community health needs assessments, and
- Quality measures for hospice and palliative care.
We ensured our research findings were widely available to students and professionals in the field.
Two NCIPH research publications were featured in a special issue of the American Journal of Public Health , highlighting recent work on public health systems and services research.
- Building the Evidence for Decision-Making: The Relationship Between Local Public Health Capacity and Community Mortality
- New Perspectives on the “Silo Effect”: Initial Comparisons of Network Structures Across Public Health Collaborative
We published scholarly articles about the impact of the recession on public health outcomes.
- Measuring Outcomes for NC Local Health Departments: Preliminary Results
- Assessing Return on Investment for NC Local Health Departments: Relationship Between Spending, Services and Mortality
- Measuring Community Health Outcomes: New Approaches for Public Health Services Research
- New Methods and Measures to Assess the Impact of the Economic Recession on Public Health Outcomes: Study Implications
- Building the Evidence for Decision-Making: The Relationship Between Local Public Health Capacity and Community Mortality (AJPH 2015)
Find out more about this two-year study.
And we celebrated the successful completion of planned efforts by the NC Preparedness and Emergency Response Research Center (NCPERRC).
Over the last 6 years, NCPERRC researchers have worked with practice partners. Together, they have:
Authored
32
peer-reviewed publications
Delivered
134
presentations
Shared
19
research briefs
One of 9 centers at schools of public health funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from 2008 to 2014, the NCPERRC successfully strengthened and improved public health preparedness capacity through systems and services research.
FUNDING OUR EFFORTS
Our funding to improve the practice of public health comes in the form of contracts and grants from a variety of agencies and organizations, allocations from the state, and other sources. We are appreciative of the support from diverse sources.
- Cabarrus (NC) Health Alliance
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Gaston County Health and Human Services
- National Network of Public Health Institutes
- North Carolina Association of Local Health Directors
- North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Public Health
- Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
- RTI International
- Tacoma-Pierce County (WA) Heath Department
From July 1, 2014 to June 30, 2015, the Institute managed:
15
new contracts and grants
$4,562,532
in funding
NCIPH FY2015 Funding Sources
- State Appropriation - $446,447
- NC AHEC - $183,873
- Receipt Revenue - $632,892
- Contracts & Grants - $1,897,862
- F&A - $205,443
- Other - $1,196,015
- Total: $4,562,532
