Rising to Meet the Moment: What Does the Public Health Workforce Need to Modernize?

Abstract

Objective: This study uses findings from the most recent iterations of the Public Health Workforce Interest and Needs Survey (PH WINS) to describe importance, skill level, and gaps of key public health competencies as well as characteristics associated with gaps.

Design: Repeated cross-sectional analysis of the 2017 and 2021 PH WINS data.

Setting: State and local health departments.

Participants: Nationally representative population of state and local governmental public health workers.

Main outcome measures: Gaps of key public health competencies related to data, evidence-based approaches, health equity and social justice, factors that affect public health, cross-sectoral partnerships, and community health assessments and improvement plans. Gaps reflect areas of high importance and low skill level. Differences in gaps among the traditional public health workforce and those hired specifically for COVID-19 response.

Results: For most competency areas, more than 20% of the public health workforce perceived a gap. Gaps related to environmental factors that affect public health, social determinants of health and cross-sector partnerships, and community health assessments and improvement plans were the largest. Tenure in public health practice, highest level of education, and having formal public health training were associated with lower odds of gaps in most areas. In a secondary analysis of traditional public health workforce compared with those hired specifically for COVID-19 response, those hired for COVID-19 response reported significantly fewer gaps for all but one competency considered.

Conclusions: A substantial proportion of the public health workforce perceives gaps in competency areas that are of high importance to the evolving role of public health. As public health continues to adjust and modernize in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and other historic changes, understanding and addressing training needs of the workforce will be instrumental to public health's ability to respond to the needs of the public.