AN ASSESSMENT OF TRAINING NEEDS IN A RURAL PUBLIC HEALTH AGENCY: BARRIERS TO LOCAL PUBLIC HEALTH TRAINING

• Published in: Public health reports (1974) Vol. 123; no. 3; pp. 399 - 404
• Main Authors: Crawford, J. Mac, Vilvens, Heather, Pearsol, Joanne, Gavit, Katie
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Association of Schools of Public Health 01.05.2008; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: Educational administration; Emergency preparedness; Funding; Health care administration; Health Planning Guidelines; Humans; Job training; Leadership; Leadership training; Local Government; Manuals as Topic; Needs Assessment; Ohio; On Linkages; Organizational Policy; Public administration; Public health; Public Health - education; Public Health - manpower; Public Health Administration - education; Public Health Administration - manpower; Rural areas; Rural health; Rural health care; Surveys and Questionnaires; Training; Workforce; Ohio
• ISSN: 0033-3549; 1468-2877
• DOI: 10.1177/003335490812300323

Since the first health agency's inception, public health has tackled a multitude of diverse tasks to improve population wellness. The insipient retirements among the baby-boom-era public health workforce and the events of Sep 11 have stimulated the demand for training and preparedness programs. Unfortunately, the push for training has not diminished existing training barriers. The reasons for the historic and current barriers to public health training, particularly for small, rural, or medically underserved areas, can be attributed to a variety of components that impede departments' potential to serve their populations. Here, Crawford et al describe the training barriers discovered as a result of a training needs assessment initiated by the Pennsylvania & Ohio Public Health Training Center in a rural health department in Ohio and compare and contrast these empirically identified barriers to those identified through a review of the literature.