Environmental Health Professionals

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Environmental  Health   Professionals   Training  Needs  Assessment  Report     Michigan  Public  Health  Training  Center  |  Office  of  Public  Health  Practice                                                                                           University  of  Michigan  School  of  Public  Health   September  2014    

   

             

 

        Acknowledgements  

We  would  like  to  thank  Chris  Klawuhn,  Michigan  Environmental  Health  Association  (MEHA)  Past   President;  Carolyn  Hobbs,  MEHA  President;  and  Meghan  Swain,  Executive  Director,  Michigan  Assocation   for  Local  Public  Health  (MALPH);  Associate  Dean  for  Practice  Phyllis  Meadows,  University  of  Michigan   School  of  Public  Health,  Office  of  Public  Health  Practice;  and  Meredith  Burke,  University  of  Michigan,   Research  Assistant.       We  gratefully  acknowledge  funding  provided  by  the  Health  Resources  and  Services  Administration,   Bureau  of  Health  Workforce  via  a  grant  to  the  Michigan  Public  Health  Training  Center.  

 

 

Contents  

Executive  Summary  .....................................................................................................................................  1   Key  Findings  .............................................................................................................................................  1   Recommendations  ...................................................................................................................................  3   Introduction  .................................................................................................................................................  2   Methods  ......................................................................................................................................................  2   Results  .........................................................................................................................................................  2   Participants  ..............................................................................................................................................  2   Training  Needs  .........................................................................................................................................  4   Training  Accessibility  ...............................................................................................................................  9   Limitations  .................................................................................................................................................  10   Discussion:  Training  Recommendations  ....................................................................................................  11   Appendices  ................................................................................................................................................  13   A.   Survey  Instrument  ..........................................................................................................................  13   B.   Summary  of  Responses  ..................................................................................................................  28   C.   Additional  Comments  .....................................................................................................................  24    

   

 

Corresponding  author:  

Michigan  Public  Health  Training  Center:    

Patricia  D.  Koman,  MPP   Senior  Program  Manager   Environmental  Health  Sciences  and     Office  of  Public  Health  Practice   University  of  Michigan  School  of  Public  Health   Email:  [email protected]             Phone:  734.764.0552  

   

 

Phoebe  Goldberg,  MPH,  CHES   Interim  Program  Manager   Office  of  Public  Health  Practice   University  of  Michigan  School  of  Public  Health   Email:  [email protected]   Phone:  (734)  763-­‐6526

Executive  Summary     The  University  of  Michigan  (U-­‐M)  Office  of  Public  Health  Practice  (OPHP)  and  its  Michigan  Public  Health  Training   Center  (Michigan  PHTC)  are  committed  to  strengthening  the  knowledge  and  skills  of  Michigan’s  current  and  future   public  health  workforce.  We  recognize  environmental  health  professionals  as  a  key  component  of  the  public  health   workforce;  thus,  we  sought  to  determine  and  serve  their  key  training  needs.  

In  the  spring  2014,  the  OPHP  and  the  Michigan  PHTC  partnered  with  the  Michigan  Environmental  Health   Association  (MEHA)  and  Michigan  Association  of  Local  Public  Health  (MALPH)  to  conduct  a  survey  to   answer  the  question,  "What  are  the  training  needs  of  Michigan’s  environmental  health  professionals?"     Environmental  health  professionals’  self-­‐assessment  allows  the  U-­‐M  OPHP  and  the  Michigan  PHTC   MEHA,  and  MALPH  to  better  serve  Michigan’s  public  health  workforce.  The  goal  is  to  provide  more   targeted  course  offerings  and  professional  development  to  the  environmental  health  community  to  help   them  become  more  prepared  in  skill  areas  that  they  feel  are  important  to  their  work.  Additionally,  the   assessment  seeks  to  identify  and  rank  training  areas  for  Michigan’s  environmental  health  workforce.     This  assessment  identified  environmental  health  professionals’  self-­‐reported  training  needs  pertaining   to  the  eight  Core  Competencies  for  Public  Health   Professionals:   1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Cultural  Competency  Skills                                           Leadership  and  Systems  Thinking  Skills             Financial  Planning  and  Management  Skills                   Analytical/Assessment  Skills   Policy  Development/Program  Planning  Skills     Communication  Skills     Community  Dimensions  of  Practice  Skills     Public  Health  Science  Skills  

In  total,  participants  identified  their   level  of  training  need  for  38  different   technical  and  professional  development   topics  

421  MEHA  members  were  asked  about  their  experience  working  in  the  public  health  workforce  through   an  electronic  anonymous  survey.    Respondents  rated  their  level  of  training  need  over  the  next  year  and   a  half  in  specific  skills/topics  related  to  environmental  health  practice:    (1)  technical  training  needs  and   (2)  professional  development  training  needs.  The  survey  also  included  questions  about  training   accessibility  and  preferences  in  order  to  identify  which  training  formats  and  methods  best  fit   environmental  health  professionals’  needs.    

Key  Findings   Skills  and  topics  for  which  training  is  most  needed   overall  focus  largely  on  professional  development   rather  than  technical  skills.    Respondents’  self-­‐ reported  need  for  professional  development  skills   (overall  average  2.44  on  scale  of  1  to  4,  with  4   indicating  high  need)  was  higher  than  their  self-­‐ reported  need  for  technical  training  (overall  average   2.22  on  scale  of  1  to  4).    However,  6  of  the  top  10   rated  needs  were  technical  training  areas.    Almost  a   quarter  of  respondents  (22%)  indicated  that  needed   communication  and  leadership  training  is  not  offered   (n  =  128).    Existing  state-­‐level  trainings  seem  to  meet   many  of  the  respondents’  current  needs.       1  

Environmental  health  professionals   desire  leadership  and  communication   training  over  technical  training  in   general.    However,  the  top  three   training  topics  included  technical   topics:    (1)  Food  Protection  and   Regulation,  (2)  Customer  Service  -­‐   Dealing  with  Difficult  People,  and  (3)   Emerging  Pathogens  

  •



Respondents  included  those  from  all  levels  of  staff:  Executive  leaders,  supervisors,  and  technical   staff.    In  total,  we  received  unduplicated  responses  from  138  MEHA  members  (33%  response   rate).   o The  majority  of  respondents  (65%)  work  for  local  public  health  agencies,  followed  by   those  who  work  for  other  local  government  (12%)  and  for  state  government  (12%).    The   remaining  respondents  work  in  academia  (3%),  private  industry  (2%),  and  other  areas   (4%).     Table  ES-­‐1  displays  6  technical  and  10  professional  development  training  needs  for  which  at   least  30%  of  respondents  identified  high  or  moderate  need  for  training.  The  table  is  organized   by  the  number  of  respondents  (count)  identifying  a  high  or  moderate  need  for  the  specific  topic.    

Table  ES-­‐1:  Top  Training  Needs  Based  on  Indication  of  High  Need  (n=130)    

Rank% Rank Training%Need 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 12 13 14 15

Count

Food%Protection%and%Regulation Customer%Service%and%Dealing%with%Difficult%People Emerging%Pathogens%(H1N1,%Noro%virus) Leadership Understanding%MDCH/State%Government%Policies Environmental%Public%Health%Tracking%and%Informatics OnRsite%Sewage%Treatment Coaching%Staff%for%Performance Water%Well%Installations Expert%Witness%or%Testifying%in%Court Negotiation Supervision GoalRsetting Interpersonal%Communication Protecting%Children's%Environmental%Health Working%in%MultiRDisciplinary%Teams

    •



87 84 82 75 70 68 67 66 65 64 63 62 62 60 59 58

Mean% Score 2.95 2.79 2.78 2.72 2.59 2.63 2.53 2.49 2.50 2.49 2.53 2.49 2.45 2.46 2.41 2.39

 

As  shown  in  Table  ES-­‐2,  of  the  38  specific  training  areas,  5  technical  and  3  professional   development  items  differed  by  type  of  organization.    Typically,  industrial  and  academic   organizations  reported  less  need  for  some  types  of  technical  training  than  local  public  health   organizations  in  these  areas.     When  training  needs  are  examined  by  type  of  organization,  position  within  the  organization  or   region  of  the  state,  only  a  few  differences  were  noted  (11  out  of  38  areas).    This  suggests  that   specific  sub-­‐group  tailoring  of  training  may  not  be  necessary.    This  section  highlights  exceptions   in  which  there  were  differences  (at  a  90%  confidence  level)  by  type  of  organization  of   respondent,  position  within  the  organization  or  geographic  region.  

  2  

Table  ES-­‐  2.    Training  Needs  That  Differ  by  Type  of  Organization,   Position  within  an  Organization,  or  Geographic  Region*     Training  Needs  Differ  by  Type  of  Organization   Technical  

Professional  Development  

•   •   •   •   •    

•   •   •   •  

Water  well  installation   Emergency  Response   On-­‐site-­‐sewage   Child  Health   Public  Health  tracking  and  informatics  

Leadership   Expert  Witness   State  processes   Coaching  **  

Training  Needs  Differ  by  Position  within  Organization   Technical  

Professional  Development  

•  

•   •   •  

Public  health  tracking  and  informatics  

Multi-­‐disciplinary  teams   Coaching   State  processes  

Training  Needs  Differ  by  Geographic  Region   Technical  

Professional  Development  

•   Emergency  response   •   Supervision   •   Emerging  pathogens   •   Leadership   •   Public  health  tracking  and  informatics   •   Coaching  **     *Differences  at  the  90  percent  confidence  level  based  on  a  chi-­‐squared  statistic  (p-­‐value