| UPDATE: In an attempt to strengthen the public health workforce, both in numbers and in quality, the Council is working to map the pipeline for public health professionals, charting how, when, and where people enter and leave governmental public health agencies. The pipeline map should shed light on issues of recruitment and retention of public health workers. Click here to view the latest information on the mapping of the pipeline.
Background
Several studies suggest that the public health field could be facing emerging public health worker shortages caused by high rates of retirement and other factors. (For more information, see the Fall 2005 issue of The Link.) In response, the Council worked to focus the field's attention on evidence-based strategies to better recruit and retain public health workers and students, and to better equip the current workforce. The Council convened a meeting in January 2005 with experts from other fields that have experienced worker shortages. In addition, the Council identified and disseminated information on related research and example programs.
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Tools You Can Use
Strategies to Address Public Health Worker Shortages - This table lists strategies to alleviate public health worker shortages that were suggested by participants of the January 2005 Council meeting. It includes links to sample projects, relevant research, and other resources. Additional resources from public health and other fields are available here.
Academic/Practice Partnerships to Strengthen Recruitment and Retention - The 2006 and 2005 databases of academic/practice linkages focus on partnerships to improve public health worker recruitment and retention. For more detailed descriptions of some of those collaborative efforts, read the Fall 2005 issue of The Link.
Literature Search on Recruitment and Retention - The National Library of Medicine conducted a literature search to help inform the public health community about strategies to address worker shortages. This document contains citations and abstracts for more than 200 research articles and projects on recruitment and retention efforts.
Additional Resources - Review the workforce capacity section of the Public Health Infrastructure Resource Center for more information on this topic. View a presentation given during the 2006 American Public Health Association Annual Meeting summarizing potential strategies for recruiting, re-tooling, and retaining the public health workforce.
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Council Projects
Evidence-Based Forum on Effective Recruitment and Retention Efforts
On January 25, 2005 the Council convened a forum to highlight evidence on effective recruitment and retention strategies. (View background information - PDF about the forum and a summary - PDF of the event.) The following experts spoke about workforce shortages in public health and other fields:
Kathleen Nolan - Director, Health Division, Center for Best Practices, National Governors Association (Bio Presentation)
Tom Blanford - Associate Director for Teacher Quality, National Education Association (Bio Presentation)
Edward S. Salsberg - Director, Center for Workforce Studies, Association of American Medical Colleges (Bio Presentation)
Jean Moore - Director, Center for Health Workforce Studies, SUNY Albany School of Public Health (Bio Presentation)
During the meeting, Council members also generated a list of related research questions.
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