The Maternal and Child Health Workforce: A Snapshot of Current and Future Needs From Public Health WINS 2021.

Objective: To summarize and examine data collected from the first-ever Public Health Workforce Interests and Needs Survey Maternal and Child Health (MCH) module.

Design, Setting, And Participants: Responses from MCH governmental public health employees in 47 state health departments and 288 local health departments (LHDs) in the United States.

Main Outcome Measure: Demographic characteristics; 4 measures from the MCH module: the importance of and skill level in 5 MCH competencies in daily work, growth and leadership development opportunities, and additional workforce development needs.

On-the-Job Learning: Bright Spots of Governmental Public Health Employee Reflections on the COVID-19 Response.

This article is one of 3 research briefs that highlight valuable experiences and opportunities that can be thought of as "bright spots" of the governmental public health workforce's pandemic response. Using PH WINS 2021 data, we qualitatively examined responses to an open-ended survey question about workforce experiences during the pandemic response. On-the-job learning was emphasized as a critical component of employees' experiences.

Teamwork and Collaboration: Bright Spots of Governmental Public Health Employee Reflections on the COVID-19 Response.

The public health emergency response following the outbreak of COVID-19 necessitated greater internal public health agency teamwork and external collaboration. Building on previous research, this article is the third of 3 research briefs that highlight "bright spots" or valuable experiences and opportunities from the COVID-19 response. Using PH WINS 2021 data, we qualitatively examined responses to a question about pandemic workforce experiences.

Leadership: Bright Spots of Governmental Public Health Employee Reflections on the COVID-19 Response.

The protracted nature of the COVID-19 pandemic demanded extraordinary efforts and innovation from public health agencies and their leaders. This is the first of 3 research briefs that highlight valuable experiences and opportunities that can be thought of as "bright spots" of the public health workforce's pandemic response. Using Public Health Workforce Interests and Needs Survey 2021 data, we qualitatively examined responses to an open-ended question about pandemic workforce experiences.

Competencies, Training Needs, and Turnover Among Rural Compared With Urban Local Public Health Practitioners: 2021 Public Health Workforce Interests and Needs Survey.

To compare rural versus urban local public health workforce competencies and training needs, COVID-19 impact, and turnover risk. Using the 2021 Public Health Workforce Interest and Needs Survey, we examined the association between local public health agency rural versus urban location in the United States (n = 29 751) and individual local public health staff reports of skill proficiencies, training needs, turnover risk, experiences of bullying due to work as a public health professional, and posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms attributable to COVID-19. Rural staff had higher odds than urban staff of reporting proficiencies in community engagement, cross-sectoral partnerships, and systems and strategic thinking as well as training needs in data-based decision-making and in diversity, equity, and inclusion.

PH WINS for All: The Critical Role of Partnerships for Engaging All Local Health Departments in the Public Health Workforce Interests and Needs Survey.

The 2021 "PH WINS for All" pilot sought to address a rural research gap by including small local health departments in the Public Health Workforce Interests and Needs Survey (PH WINS) for the first time. To do so, the de Beaumont Foundation partnered with the Public Health Training Centers in Health and Human Services Regions V and X. This article describes the collaborative efforts that made the PH WINS for All pilot successful, presents respondent demographics by agency size, and discusses the importance of gathering such data to address the unique needs of the workforce in small local health departments.

Awareness of and Confidence to Address Equity-Related Concepts Across the US Governmental Public Health Workforce.

Objective: To assess the governmental public health (GPH) workforce's awareness of and confidence to address health equity , social determinants of health ( SDoH ), and social determinants of equity ( SDoE ) in their work.

Design, Setting, And Participants: A nationally representative population of US local and state GPH employees (n = 41 890) were surveyed through the 2021 Public Health Workforce Interests and Needs Survey (PH WINS 2021).

Main Outcome Measures: Self-reported awareness and confidence were explored by self-identified racial and ethnic group identity, public health degree attainment, and supervisory status.

Recovery and Resiliency in 29 Big Cities: Results From the 2021 Public Health Workforce Interests and Needs Survey.

Context: Big Cities Health Coalition member health departments (BCHC HDs) serve more than 61 million people across their jurisdictions, nearly 20% of the US population. As such, they have particular challenges and opportunities in how they do their work. This article focuses on BCHC HDs that participated in the 2021 Public Health Workforce Interests and Needs Survey (PH WINS) and describes workplace perceptions, training needs, COVID-19 efforts, and well-being.

PH WINS 2021 Methodology Report.

Context: The Public Health Workforce Interests and Needs Survey (PH WINS) was fielded in 2014 and 2017 and is the largest survey of the governmental public health workforce. It captures individual employees' perspectives on key issues such as workplace engagement and satisfaction, intention to leave, training needs, ability to address public health issues, as well as collects demographic information. This article describes the methods used for the 2021 PH WINS fielding.

Qualitative Insights From Governmental Public Health Employees About Experiences Serving During the COVID-19 Pandemic, PH WINS 2021.

Objective: The purpose of the current study was to examine governmental public health employee experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Design And Setting: A total of 5169 responses to a PH WINS 2021 open-ended question were qualitatively coded. The question asked employees to share their experiences during the COVID-19 response.

Workplace Perceptions and Experiences Related to COVID-19 Response Efforts Among Public Health Workers - Public Health Workforce Interests and Needs Survey, United States, September 2021-January 2022.

The COVID-19 pandemic has strained many essential frontline professionals, including public health workers*; however, few studies have evaluated the specific challenges facing public health workers during this period. Data from the 2021 Public Health Workforce Interests and Needs Survey (PH WINS), a nationally representative survey of individual state and local governmental public health agency workers, provide insight into public health workers' demographic characteristics and experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic, tenure, and intention to leave their organization (1). Surveyed governmental public health workers identified predominantly as non-Hispanic White (White), women, and aged >40 years; however, workforce characteristics differed by agency type.

Using a Collective Impact Framework to Implement Evidence-Based Strategies for Improving Maternal and Child Health Outcomes.

In 2016, the North Carolina Division of Public Health launched the Improving Community Outcomes for Maternal and Child Health program to invest in evidence-based programs to address three aims: improve birth outcomes, reduce infant mortality, and improve health outcomes for children 0 to 5 years old. Five grantees representing 14 counties were awarded 2 years of funding to implement one evidence-based strategy per aim using a collective impact framework, the principles of implementation science, and a health equity approach. Local health departments served as the backbone organization and provided ongoing support to grantees and helped them form community action teams (CATs) comprising implementation team members, community experts, and relevant stakeholders who met regularly.