Archived
June, 2007 |
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Hispanic Health Program
PUBLIC HEALTH
PREVENTION SERVICE (PHPS)
WHAT IS THE PUBLIC HEALTH PROBLEM?
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In 1997, the HHS
Public Health Functions Committee Report found a large proportion of
the Nation’s front line public health workers lacked formal training
in public health. |
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There is a shortage of
trained personnel in all areas of public health practice. |
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The public health
workforce must reflect the diversity of the population. |
WHAT HAS CDC
ACCOMPLISHED?
In
1997, CDC established the Public Health Prevention Service (PHPS)
-- a
three-year program of comprehensive service and training designed for
graduates of masters degree programs who have 1-2 years of public health
experience in operations and programs. The program consists of two
rotations at CDC followed by a two-year assignment at a state or local
health department. Experiences include: program development, management,
translating science into practice, and direct, hands-on work with
communities.
Example of program in action: |
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Prevention Specialists work
in a variety of areas during their assignments, many of which involve
Hispanic health activities. One Prevention Specialist worked with PAHO on
a summary report of the "Health Municipalities Evaluation of Policy
Recommendations in Latin America" and distributed it to the various
Ministries of Health. A Prevention Specialist in the California Office of
Binational Border Health collected data on asthma and unintentional
injuries among Latinos in Imperial County and designed prevention
projects. Another Prevention Specialist assessed occupational exposure to
pesticides as a risk factor for Hispanic migrant farm workers and
presented these data at a meeting of States. The information will be used
to make programmatic decisions. |
WHAT ARE THE NEXT
STEPS?
The need for specially
trained public health workers will only increase in the years to come.
Since the PHPS Program’s beginning, there have been only
seven Hispanic
Prevention Specialists. CDC plans to increase future PHPS classes to
accommodate more Prevention Specialists per class with new Prevention
Specialists more representative of the population. This will be
accomplished by increased marketing efforts in minority areas, including
work with the Hispanic-Serving Health Professions Schools, Inc.
For more information, contact the Epidemiology
Program Office, Division of Applied Public Health
Training, Mailstop D18, 1600
Clifton Road NE, Atlanta, GA 30333: (404)
639-4087:
www.cdc.gov/epo/dapht/phps. |
Back to the Hispanic/Latino Populations Page
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