Knowledge Bank

In Ohio, local health departments (LHDs) are required to achieve accreditation via the Public Health Accreditation Board by July 2020. To meet the requirements for accreditation, LHDs are pursuing system performance monitoring, community engagement and unique agency partnerships at a rapidly increasing rate. In a 2016 memorandum, the Ohio Department of Health (ODH) engaged the Center for Public Health Practice (CPHP) within The Ohio State University College of Public Health to support local public health accreditation and public health service delivery across the state. This support was designed to provide Ohio's LHDs with the tools and technical assistance to standardize LHD system performance, develop lasting public health partnerships and implement evidence-based improvements for the provision of public health services. The CPHP was uniquely qualified to provide these support services, with expertise in public health accreditation, community engagement, coalition building and public health systems research. This agreement allowed the CPHP meet to the needs of local public health in Ohio and conduct valuable research on which factors impact accreditation readiness. In the proposed presentation, a panel of LHD leaders will discuss their engagement strategies with fellow community partners, how partnering with the CPHP helped strengthen their local public health workforce and system, and how the design of the accreditation support project promoted collaboration and exploration of shared services among community agencies. Example partnerships that developed and the impact on local health outcomes will be shared. Panelists will describe specific activities through which local public health departments perceived growth in their connections to the community. The CPHP will present methods used to understand the unique needs of local public health and the importance of designing support to meet those needs. Highlighting the collaborative learning process utilized, the CPHP will discuss how this work systematically engaged communities across the state to impact community health via accreditation readiness activities. Discussion will focus on approaches to encourage local agency collaborations as a way to elicit positive change in the health of Ohio residents. The CPHP will describe the national significance of project research to identify components necessary for LHDs to achieve accreditation and improve the public health system overall. The target audience for this presentation are individuals interested in improving community health and wellness by establishing collaborative relationships between higher education and state and local government agencies, as well as the methods utilized to develop lasting relationships between local agencies. This presentation will be led by Meredith Cameron, MSW and Andrew Wapner, DO, MPH. The panel will consist of up to three local public health department employees from multiple regions of Ohio.

AUTHOR AFFILIATION: Meredith Cameron, Program Director, College of Public Health, cameron.829@osu.edu (Corresponding Author); Andrew Wapner, Clinical Assistant Professor, Director, Center for Public Health Practice, College of Public Health.