Overview
Our study will use longitudinal local health department (LHD) expenditure data for categories of service expenditures (i.e. Maternal/Child Health, Environmental Health, Communicable Disease Control) in 305 LHDs from four states over six years (2005-2010). The current unfortunate economic crisis provides a unique “natural experiment” to examine relationships between changes in LHD expenditures for specific LHD services and changes in population health behaviors and proximal health outcomes on the county level. Unique and critical partnerships with Public Health Practice-based Research Networks (PBRNs) and the University of Washington’s Center for Studies in Demography and Ecology (CSDE) will underlie the promising and innovative geospatial and statistical approach we will use to examine a poorly understood area of Public Health Systems and Services Research (PHSSR). Understanding these relationships is vital to developing an evidence base for public health planning and decision-making.
Publication
- Targeted Health Department Expenditures Benefit Birth Outcomes at the County Level, American Journal of Preventive Medicine, June 2014
Research Areas
Contact
Betty Bekemeier, Ph.D., M.P.H.
bettybek@u.washington.edu