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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Dietary inquiries in public health practice.

Public health administrations are responsible for monitoring the availability and use of foods. The information required can be obtained cheaply and easily by asking schoolchildren about the foods they have consumed. When the mean weights of adults is low and the number of kinds of food in use is small, nutritional problems probably exist and must be investigated. The same indicators may also be useful in the identification of families affected by poverty.

Adult↗

Public health practice and public health education: a personal view of their current relationship.

In its 1988 report, The Future of Public Health, the Institute of Medicine stated that schools of public health had become "somewhat isolated" for public health practice. Since then a great deal has been done to address this issue by the academic community, state and local public health practice agencies, foundations, and federal health agencies. This commentary reviews their most important actions and identifies some unresolved issues.

Cooperative Behavior↗

Strengthening public health practice content in public health training.

U.S. schools of public health have recognized the imperative to strengthen the public health practice content of training for future public health practitioners. Five strategies to develop administrative and curriculum programs within schools of public health to address this need are described: (1) institution of centers for public health program evaluation; (2) creation of automated field placement and apprenticeship programs; (3) formalization of linkages with professional management training programs to create a track for future senior managers of community health agencies; (4) establishment of cross-departmental applied public health faculty tracks; and (5) offering applied public health evaluation scholarships for students. These initiatives may provide incentives for the institution of a public health practice focus within schools of public health.

Curriculum↗

Public health practice in schools of public health: is there a fit?

Public health practice has been a part of schools of public health for a long time and yet it is still an emerging field of scholarship. Practice faculty often are isolated in their schools and not part of the mainstream. This article explores the elements of culture that are necessary to support a practice focus in a school of public health.

Faculty, Medical↗

Ethics in public health practice: a survey of public health nurses in southern Louisiana.

The present study was designed to help learn more about the ethical interests and concerns of public health nurses employed in state and local health departments. Self-administered postal questionnaires were mailed to 41 public health nurses employed at health units in Region I of the Louisiana Office of Public Health. Basic demographic information was obtained along with information about the workers' previous instruction or training in ethics and the nature of ethical conflicts encountered in their public health practice. Only 38% (15 of 39) of the surveyed nurses had had formal instruction in ethics. Even fewer (7.3%) had received continuing education on ethics. Most of the nurses felt confident in their ability to recognize an ethical conflict or dilemma in the workplace; fewer felt confident in their ability to resolve an ethical conflict or dilemma. A high proportion of the nurses agreed that there is a need for continuing education courses on ethics for public health workers. Nurses who had received formal ethics instruction were more likely to feel confident in their ability to recognize an ethical conflict in their public health practice. Continuing education programs on ethics are needed that are designed to meet the specific needs of front-line public health workers.

Adult↗

Can public health performance standards improve the quality of public health practice?

Recent developments suggest that a national public health performance standards program could succeed in improving the quality of public health practice. Public health standards also may be useful for enhancing accountability and strengthening the science base of public health practice. For national public health performance standards to have a substantial influence on the quality of public health practice, several important issues must be addressed. These include agreement as to the ultimate purpose and appropriate unit of measurement, delineation of the specific qualities to be measured, and expansion of strategies to promote widespread use of public health practice standards.

Health Plan Implementation↗

Final report on public health practice linkages between schools of public health and state health agencies: 1992-1996.

Since 1988 there has been a call for enhanced linkages between schools of public health and public health agencies that has prompted schools of public health to develop public health practice initiatives. The University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health conducted surveys of schools of public health and of state public health agencies in 1992 to collect baseline data on practice initiatives undertaken by academe and governmental public health agencies to enhance collaboration; follow-up surveys were undertaken in 1993, 1994 and 1996. This article describes the trends and implications of this survey of practice linkages involving schools of public health and state health agencies.

Cooperative Behavior↗

From measuring to improving public health practice.

Efforts to measure public health practice have taken on various forms and focused on different aspects of the system of public health practice over the past century. Before 1990, measurement was primarily based on a series of self-assessment instruments initiated under the auspices of the Committee on Administrative Practice of the American Public Health Association. These instruments emphasized measurement of immediate results of local public health services although they also provided information on local resources and capacity to perform. Following the Institute of Medicine's report in 1988, efforts began to focus on performance related to public health's core functions. These more recent assessments suggest that the system of public health practice must be improved to achieve the targets of effectiveness established for the year 2000. Ultimately, a comprehensive national surveillance system for public health practice will need to both measure and examine the relationships among inputs (resources, capacity, etc), core function-related processes, outputs (services) as well as outcomes.

Health Services Research↗

Public health practice linkages between schools of public health and state health agencies: results from a three-year survey.

Several recent examinations of the state of public health have called for enhanced linkages between schools of public health and public health agencies, prompting federal health agencies and schools of public health to develop practice initiatives. Surveys of schools of public health and of state public health agencies were conducted in 1992 to collect baseline data on practice links between the two agencies; follow-up surveys were undertaken in 1993 and 1994. Responses reveal that a substantial amount of interaction between schools and agencies has been occurring for some time, but that until recently much of the interaction has been informal and between individuals or departments rather than institution-wide. Both frequency and formalization of such collaborations have increased, reflecting a growing emphasis on public health practice activities at schools of public health together with public health agencies.

Government Agencies↗

Creating and validating practical measures for assessing public health practices in local communities.

Efforts to develop a surveillance system to measure local public health performance were initiated in 1991. The organizing framework for the proposed system consisted of three core functions formulated by the Institute of Medicine and linked with 10 practices previously defined. A surveillance protocol was developed using local public health jurisdictions rather than specific agencies within the jurisdictions, as the units of study. Selection of 84 indicators was assisted by follow-up study of a group of departments analyzed in 1979 and by review of recent public health literature. Each of the 84 performance indicators was linked to one of the 10 practices. Responses to the survey were obtained from local health department directors. Results yielded scores for the surveyed jurisdiction with regard to adequacy of performance for each practice, the proportional contribution to performance by the local health department, and the identification of other providers contributing to the coverage of each practice within the jurisdiction. A shortened version of the protocol (26 indicators) was tested in all local jurisdictions in six states and shown to correlate reliably with scores obtained from the longer protocol for overall public health performance, as well as for performance of each of the three core functions and for some of the 10 practices. A subset of four indicators was shown to predict reliably the overall score. The findings support the proposition that public health practice can be defined, measured, and monitored and that current widely accepted definitions of core functions and practices have utility. Measurement and surveillance tools for these functions and practices are available and tested.

Community Health Services↗

Building bridges between schools of public health and public health practice.

A 1988 Institute of Medicine report, The Future of Public Health, characterized the current public health system as fragmented, particularly with regard to relationships between public health agencies and academic institutions. As one response to the report, the Health Resources and Services Administration established the Center for the Development of Public Health Practice at the University of Illinois to advance linkages between schools of public health and public health agencies. Surveys of schools of public health and of state health agencies were conducted in 1992 to collect baseline data on the practice links between the two. Responses reveal that there is a substantial amount of informal collaboration between them. Formalization of collaborative activities between schools and agencies is beginning to occur and is expected to expand owing to increased focus on public health practice at schools of public health.

Chicago↗

Conceptualization, measurement, and use of gestational age. I. Clinical and public health practice.

Despite its importance for both clinical and public health practice and the considerable effort spent during the past three decades to develop alternative estimation methods, the measurement of gestational age on both the individual and population level continues to be problematic. The availability of alternative approaches for the estimation of gestational age has to some extent obscured the basic differences in the conceptualization of these measures and influenced our current state of thinking about gestational age. As the evidence grows that these alternative gestational age estimation measures do not precisely correspond with one another, controversies have arisen regarding which method is most accurate. In the search for a single gestational age "gold standard," the potentially valuable information that these alternative measures may provide when used in combination should not be overlooked.

Female↗