Emerging lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic about the decisive competencies needed for the public health workforce: A qualitative study

Osnat Bashkin; Robert Otok; Lore Leighton; Kasia Czabanowska; Paul Barach; Nadav Davidovitch; Keren Dopelt; Mariusz Duplaga; Leah Okenwa Emegwa; Fiona MacLeod; Yehuda Neumark; Maya Peled Raz; Theodore Tulchinsky; Zohar Mor

doi:10.3389/fpubh.2022.990353

Emerging lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic about the decisive competencies needed for the public health workforce: A qualitative study

Osnat Bashkin^*, Robert Otok, Lore Leighton, Kasia Czabanowska, Paul Barach, Nadav Davidovitch, Keren Dopelt, Mariusz Duplaga, Leah Okenwa Emegwa, Fiona MacLeod, Yehuda Neumark, Maya Peled Raz, Theodore Tulchinsky, Zohar Mor

^*Corresponding author for this work

Department of Social Medicine

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

The global COVID-19 crisis exposed the critical need for a highly qualified public health workforce. This qualitative research aimed to examine public health workforce competencies needed to face COVID-19 challenges and identify the gaps between training programs and the competency demands of real-world disasters and pandemics. Through a sample of thirty-one participant qualitative interviews, we examined the perspectives of diverse stakeholders from lead public health organizations in Israel. Grounded Theory was used to analyze the data. Six themes emerged from the content analysis: public health workforce's low professional status and the uncertain future of the public health workforce; links between the community and Higher Education institutions; the centrality of communication competencies; need to improve health promotion; the role of leadership, management, and partnership, and innovation in public health coherence. Increasing the attractiveness of the profession, professional and financial support, and improving the working conditions to ensure a sustainable and resilient PH system were deemed necessary. This paper describes and cultivates new knowledge and leadership skills among public health professionals, and lays the groundwork for future public health leadership preparedness programs.

Original language	American English
Article number	990353
Journal	Frontiers in Public Health
Volume	10
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2022.990353
State	Published - 2 Sep 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The authors wish to thank all other SEEEPHI consortium members that are not on the authors' list: Orna Baron-Epel, Israel; Shira Zelber-Sagi, Israel; Jascha de Nooijer, Netherlands; Stephanie Paillard-Borg, Sweden; Jannas Harrington, Ireland; Hagai Levine, Israel; and Maureen Malowany, Israel. We would also like to thank the members of the SEEEPHI project evaluation committee: Orly Manor, Israel and Walter Riccardi, Italy.

Funding Information:
We conducted a prospective, qualitative study as part of a multinational Erasmus Plus Capacity Building European Union-funded grant in Higher Education funded project entitled “Sharing European Educational Experience in Public Health for Israel (SEEEPHI): harmonization, employability, leadership, and outreach ().

Funding Information:
The current study is part of a multinational Erasmus+ Capacity Building in Higher Education funded project- Sharing European Educational Experience in Public Health for Israel (SEEEPHI): harmonization, employability, leadership, and outreach. The project is financed by EU funds within the framework of the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union (Grant Agreement 618578-EPP-1-2020-1-BE-EPPKA2-CBHE-JP).

Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2022 Bashkin, Otok, Leighton, Czabanowska, Barach, Davidovitch, Dopelt, Duplaga, Okenwa Emegwa, MacLeod, Neumark, Raz, Tulchinsky and Mor.

Keywords

communication
competencies
health promotion
leadership
management
public health workforce

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.3389/fpubh.2022.990353

Cite this

Bashkin, O., Otok, R., Leighton, L., Czabanowska, K., Barach, P., Davidovitch, N., Dopelt, K., Duplaga, M., Okenwa Emegwa, L., MacLeod, F., Neumark, Y., Raz, M. P., Tulchinsky, T., & Mor, Z. (2022). Emerging lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic about the decisive competencies needed for the public health workforce: A qualitative study. Frontiers in Public Health, 10, Article 990353. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2022.990353

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title = "Emerging lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic about the decisive competencies needed for the public health workforce: A qualitative study",

abstract = "The global COVID-19 crisis exposed the critical need for a highly qualified public health workforce. This qualitative research aimed to examine public health workforce competencies needed to face COVID-19 challenges and identify the gaps between training programs and the competency demands of real-world disasters and pandemics. Through a sample of thirty-one participant qualitative interviews, we examined the perspectives of diverse stakeholders from lead public health organizations in Israel. Grounded Theory was used to analyze the data. Six themes emerged from the content analysis: public health workforce's low professional status and the uncertain future of the public health workforce; links between the community and Higher Education institutions; the centrality of communication competencies; need to improve health promotion; the role of leadership, management, and partnership, and innovation in public health coherence. Increasing the attractiveness of the profession, professional and financial support, and improving the working conditions to ensure a sustainable and resilient PH system were deemed necessary. This paper describes and cultivates new knowledge and leadership skills among public health professionals, and lays the groundwork for future public health leadership preparedness programs.",

keywords = "communication, competencies, health promotion, leadership, management, public health workforce",

author = "Osnat Bashkin and Robert Otok and Lore Leighton and Kasia Czabanowska and Paul Barach and Nadav Davidovitch and Keren Dopelt and Mariusz Duplaga and {Okenwa Emegwa}, Leah and Fiona MacLeod and Yehuda Neumark and Raz, {Maya Peled} and Theodore Tulchinsky and Zohar Mor",

note = "Funding Information: The authors wish to thank all other SEEEPHI consortium members that are not on the authors' list: Orna Baron-Epel, Israel; Shira Zelber-Sagi, Israel; Jascha de Nooijer, Netherlands; Stephanie Paillard-Borg, Sweden; Jannas Harrington, Ireland; Hagai Levine, Israel; and Maureen Malowany, Israel. We would also like to thank the members of the SEEEPHI project evaluation committee: Orly Manor, Israel and Walter Riccardi, Italy. Funding Information: We conducted a prospective, qualitative study as part of a multinational Erasmus Plus Capacity Building European Union-funded grant in Higher Education funded project entitled “Sharing European Educational Experience in Public Health for Israel (SEEEPHI): harmonization, employability, leadership, and outreach (). Funding Information: The current study is part of a multinational Erasmus+ Capacity Building in Higher Education funded project- Sharing European Educational Experience in Public Health for Israel (SEEEPHI): harmonization, employability, leadership, and outreach. The project is financed by EU funds within the framework of the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union (Grant Agreement 618578-EPP-1-2020-1-BE-EPPKA2-CBHE-JP). Publisher Copyright: Copyright {\textcopyright} 2022 Bashkin, Otok, Leighton, Czabanowska, Barach, Davidovitch, Dopelt, Duplaga, Okenwa Emegwa, MacLeod, Neumark, Raz, Tulchinsky and Mor.",

year = "2022",

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Bashkin, O, Otok, R, Leighton, L, Czabanowska, K, Barach, P, Davidovitch, N, Dopelt, K, Duplaga, M, Okenwa Emegwa, L, MacLeod, F, Neumark, Y, Raz, MP, Tulchinsky, T & Mor, Z 2022, 'Emerging lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic about the decisive competencies needed for the public health workforce: A qualitative study', Frontiers in Public Health, vol. 10, 990353. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2022.990353

TY - JOUR

T1 - Emerging lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic about the decisive competencies needed for the public health workforce

T2 - A qualitative study

AU - Bashkin, Osnat

AU - Otok, Robert

AU - Leighton, Lore

AU - Czabanowska, Kasia

AU - Barach, Paul

AU - Davidovitch, Nadav

AU - Dopelt, Keren

AU - Duplaga, Mariusz

AU - Okenwa Emegwa, Leah

AU - MacLeod, Fiona

AU - Neumark, Yehuda

AU - Raz, Maya Peled

AU - Tulchinsky, Theodore

AU - Mor, Zohar

N1 - Funding Information: The authors wish to thank all other SEEEPHI consortium members that are not on the authors' list: Orna Baron-Epel, Israel; Shira Zelber-Sagi, Israel; Jascha de Nooijer, Netherlands; Stephanie Paillard-Borg, Sweden; Jannas Harrington, Ireland; Hagai Levine, Israel; and Maureen Malowany, Israel. We would also like to thank the members of the SEEEPHI project evaluation committee: Orly Manor, Israel and Walter Riccardi, Italy. Funding Information: We conducted a prospective, qualitative study as part of a multinational Erasmus Plus Capacity Building European Union-funded grant in Higher Education funded project entitled “Sharing European Educational Experience in Public Health for Israel (SEEEPHI): harmonization, employability, leadership, and outreach (). Funding Information: The current study is part of a multinational Erasmus+ Capacity Building in Higher Education funded project- Sharing European Educational Experience in Public Health for Israel (SEEEPHI): harmonization, employability, leadership, and outreach. The project is financed by EU funds within the framework of the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union (Grant Agreement 618578-EPP-1-2020-1-BE-EPPKA2-CBHE-JP). Publisher Copyright: Copyright © 2022 Bashkin, Otok, Leighton, Czabanowska, Barach, Davidovitch, Dopelt, Duplaga, Okenwa Emegwa, MacLeod, Neumark, Raz, Tulchinsky and Mor.

PY - 2022/9/2

Y1 - 2022/9/2

N2 - The global COVID-19 crisis exposed the critical need for a highly qualified public health workforce. This qualitative research aimed to examine public health workforce competencies needed to face COVID-19 challenges and identify the gaps between training programs and the competency demands of real-world disasters and pandemics. Through a sample of thirty-one participant qualitative interviews, we examined the perspectives of diverse stakeholders from lead public health organizations in Israel. Grounded Theory was used to analyze the data. Six themes emerged from the content analysis: public health workforce's low professional status and the uncertain future of the public health workforce; links between the community and Higher Education institutions; the centrality of communication competencies; need to improve health promotion; the role of leadership, management, and partnership, and innovation in public health coherence. Increasing the attractiveness of the profession, professional and financial support, and improving the working conditions to ensure a sustainable and resilient PH system were deemed necessary. This paper describes and cultivates new knowledge and leadership skills among public health professionals, and lays the groundwork for future public health leadership preparedness programs.

AB - The global COVID-19 crisis exposed the critical need for a highly qualified public health workforce. This qualitative research aimed to examine public health workforce competencies needed to face COVID-19 challenges and identify the gaps between training programs and the competency demands of real-world disasters and pandemics. Through a sample of thirty-one participant qualitative interviews, we examined the perspectives of diverse stakeholders from lead public health organizations in Israel. Grounded Theory was used to analyze the data. Six themes emerged from the content analysis: public health workforce's low professional status and the uncertain future of the public health workforce; links between the community and Higher Education institutions; the centrality of communication competencies; need to improve health promotion; the role of leadership, management, and partnership, and innovation in public health coherence. Increasing the attractiveness of the profession, professional and financial support, and improving the working conditions to ensure a sustainable and resilient PH system were deemed necessary. This paper describes and cultivates new knowledge and leadership skills among public health professionals, and lays the groundwork for future public health leadership preparedness programs.

KW - communication

KW - competencies

KW - health promotion

KW - leadership

KW - management

KW - public health workforce

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U2 - 10.3389/fpubh.2022.990353

DO - 10.3389/fpubh.2022.990353

M3 - Article

C2 - 36117595

AN - SCOPUS:85138129677

SN - 2296-2565

VL - 10

JO - Frontiers in Public Health

JF - Frontiers in Public Health

M1 - 990353

ER -

Emerging lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic about the decisive competencies needed for the public health workforce: A qualitative study

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

UN SDGs

Access to Document

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Cite this