The Relationship Between Public Health Workforce Competency, Provision of Services, and Health Outcomes in Tennessee

Year: 2013
Funding: Jr Investigator Award
Status: Completed

The principal objective of this project is to determine if the competencies of the local health department public health workforce impact the provision of services and health outcomes in Tennessee (TN). Public health workforce competency data will be obtained from the findings of the 2012 State Department of Health Workforce Assessment Survey that was conducted for the public health workforce needs assessment by the TN Public Health Training Center (LIFEPATH). This survey instrument captured competency and demographic information on TN Department of Health employees statewide. Provision of service will be obtained from the NACCHO 2010 profile survey for TN. Health outcome data will be obtained from the County Health Rankings 2012 rankings. These three data sets will be merged. Descriptive statistics, bivariate analyses, and linear regression (using multilevel modeling if deemed appropriate) will be employed to examine the main research question of the relationship between public health competency, provision of services, and health outcomes.  Appropriate variables would be controlled including financing, demographics, and structure. The study will be among the first to examine the utility of using needs assessment data from a public health training center to examine public health workforce competency and its relationship between services and health outcomes. This study may provide preliminary evidence of the value of needs assessment data in decision making for resource allocation, educational training of public health workers, and to improving health of the states.

Researcher

Robin Pendley, Dr.P.H., M.P.H., CPH

Mentor

Brian Martin, Ph.D., M.B.A., M.P.H.
Associate Professor
Department of Health Services Management & Policy
East Tennessee State University

Presentations

Relationship Between Public Health Workforce Competency, Provision of Services, and Health Outcomes in Tennessee (PHSSR Research-in-Progress Webinar Series - Expected 2015)

Research Areas