Health Department Model

In order to assist non-CDC funded states in the process of integrating genomics into public health practice, we are working to develop a State Public Health Genomics Model to serve as their road map. The components of the State Public Health Genomics Model will include

  1. An updated version of the ASTHO tool kit
  2. A logic model
  3. Academic/practice model in the Great Lakes States
  4. A database of training tools for the public health workforce
  5. A report based on a series of interviews on successful strategies that states have used in developing their genomic programs

We plan to carry out this activity as follows:

  1. Conduct a literature review
  2. Develop a database of training tools
  3. Carry out and synthesize a series of interviews with the four CDC funded states as well as several other states with successful genomic programs
  4. Draft a report by the Spring of 2008 and distribute to the CDC-funded states and CDC for review and comment
  5. Disseminate the final report to all states and post it on our web site
  6. Write a journal article based on the report and consider submitting it to the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice

Genomics Training Materials Database

To further the CPHCG goals of educating and assuring a competent public health workforce in public health genomics, the CPHCG has developed a searchable database of genomics training materials that have been developed for the public health workforce. We define the public health workforce, as it is defined in the Future of the Public's Health in the 21st Century, as including any group that works in public health from a population perspective including

  1. The community
  2. Health care delivery systems
  3. Employers and businesses
  4. The media
  5. Academia
  6. The governmental public health infrastructure

Training materials were identified through contacts with the Genetic Alliance and through web and literature searches. The 10 Essential Services of Public Health, modified to include genetic/genomic language, were utilized to help guide the organization of the training materials collected. In addition, the Core Competencies for Public Health Professionals and the three levels of skill (aware, knowledgeable, and advanced), developed by the Council on Linkages Between Academia and Public Health Practice were utilized to assess the materials. This project is assisting in highlighting the gaps in genomics training materials which the CPHCG will seek to address in future work plans through the development of modules, courses, curricula, and support materials.

Click here search the Training Materials Database.

Academic/Practice Partnership Preliminary Assessment

The preliminary assessment project has begun to explore the level of academic and practice partnerships within the Midwest region. The working framework which has been developed to conduct this assessment seeks to identify and describe existing relationships between academic public health programs and the integration of genomics into state and local level public health department activities. An integral part of the assessment is to identify existing resources (e.g. financial, interpersonal, genomic personnel) utilized in the development and sustainability of collaborative efforts. In addition, it is intended that additional avenues for collaboration surrounding public health genomic activities such as community genomic education and professional educational development will be discovered. As a pilot, staff members of the CPHCG and the Michigan Department of Community Health were asked to outline genomic program activities as they relate to the 10 Essential Services of Public Health (modified to include genetic/genomic language). Preliminary data were collected and shared during a joint meeting where findings revealed joint activities consisting of:

  1. Informing, educating, and empowering community groups and public health professionals
  2. Assuring a competent workforce

Additional programming activities were identified as potential partnership endeavors. Based upon the success of this pilot and suggested modifications, similar assessment activities are planned for the remaining state/local health departments and academic institutions in the Midwest region.