The Expanding Workforce - How We Can Shape Up on the Job

Tighten your abdominal muscles. Keep breathing. Sit up straight. Let’s face it, working out is a chore for most people and in today’s busy world finding time to go to the gym or dedicating 30 minutes 5 days a week to exercise can be challenging. It’s a figure that’s starting to show given the increase in obesity rates all across the country.  In 2002, President George W. Bush signed an Executive Order to promote physical fitness throughout the country.  Why? He was concerned about the numbers of Americans suffering from lack of physical activity and poor diet habits and wanted to motivate the general public to do better. Not only that but, data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show employer-provided health insurance, short and long term disability programs and workers compensation combine to make up 10 percent of all payroll costs in the United States. That is not music to any administrators ears, especially the those who lead companies and businesses. 

So now the question becomes, whether you’re stuck behind a work desk or working on the go for at least 8 hours a day, how on earth do you fit in an exercise routine? You tighten your ab muscles while you’re reading a flyer for an upcoming program! (For those of you who did that, congratulations, you just increased physical activity in your workplace.  You can relax those ab muscles now if you’d like.) It’s that easy. It’s also just that easy to learn about exercise programs already in place at various worksites across Alabama and throughout the country. This broadcast highlighted some of these efforts to increase physical activity and also gave tips on how to do similar activities in your worksite. 

Eating right at work can sometimes be a struggle too, but there are ways to make healthy choices readily available.  The broadcast also showed how easy it is to include these two food groups in your worksite on a daily basis.  It doesn’t take much to eat right and be active while you’re working, in fact, being healthy at work could be the easiest and most enjoyable thing you do all day.  NOTE:  This course was originally presented as a satellite broadcast.

Inescapable Realities in Public Health - Conflict and Collaboration:  Building Competency

Have you ever found yourself in a conflict, either professional or personal, with no idea how to get out of it without simply surrendering or fighting back? Just how is it that conflict seems to arise so often? With all the attention that "win-win" approaches get these days, is collaboration always the best way to resolve differences? Is there an element that is common to both collaborating with partners and resolving differences with them? 

This broadcast included a discussion of conflict, conflict resolution, and collaboration, and how they are all tightly related. Conflict is all around us, in all aspects of our lives. It seems to be inherent in our culture and perhaps in just being human. While it's easy to create conflict, resolving it often defies our abilities. And yet there are some basic principles one can apply in both preventing conflict and in contributing positively to its resolution once conflict arises. This broadcast provided a very innovative look at conflict, why it arises, and what can be done to resolve it. Also discussed was collaboration, how it represents ONE approach to conflict resolution, and why it is an essential competency in public health practice.  NOTE:  This course was originally presented as a satellite broadcast.

Conflict Management:  Lessons From the Field

Conflict is a normal part of our everyday life both at home and in the workplace. Mismanaged conflict has both direct and indirect costs as it decreases productivity, increases problems with morale and increases liability. Conflict management is a constructive way of approaching this natural phenomenon so that the result is a positive outcome. 

In this broadcast a real-life approach to conflict management was provided as specific scenarios, sent in by viewers, were addressed to a panel of Human Resources experts. The panel discussed each submission as a case study. Viewers were also invited to join the discussion during the broadcast by calling to talk with our experts. All emails and calls were handled anonymously so that, together, the panel and the viewers were able to discuss successful conflict management strategies.  NOTE:  This course was originally presented as a satellite broadcast.

Evaluating Organizational Effectiveness

Recently, an emphasis has been placed on the effects that various training and development initiatives have had on enhancing the capacity of the public health workforce and related organizational effectiveness. In turn, issues related to measuring and assessing the effects of these efforts have become much more salient. Issues surrounding who should serve as evaluators, what behaviors or outcomes should be included in the evaluation process and what impact the organization itself has on the outcomes are increasingly significant. This broadcast explained the key concepts related to evaluating organizational effectiveness in the public health domain. Examples were provided throughout the presentation to illustrate the issues from a public health perspective. In addition, guidelines were presented for executing an effective organizational evaluation process.  NOTE:  This course was originally presented as a satellite broadcast.

12:00 - 1:30 p.m. (Central Time)

*CEUs available for this broadcast.

*Nursing - 1 hr; Social Work - 1 hr

This program is being presented by Michael Fraser, PhD, Chief Executive Officer of the Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs.

Pediatric Trauma and Disaster Course
 

Community Management of High-Dose Radiological Events

On Demand

*Nursing and Social Work CEU's are available
 

Requirements for nuclear proliferation and an expanded supply of energy worldwide have created an unprecedented environment in human, scientific, and political evolution.  Public health officials are now dealing with a more aggressive international stance on the development of and potential use for nuclear weapons.  This broadcast addressed the challenges of training personnel, operational modes, and community preparedness that are critical to public health planning in the 21st Century.

http://www.adph.org/ALPHTN/index.asp?id=4833

We Want to Hear From You

Looking for more training on a specific topic in public health?  Need additional training on a current public health hot topic?  We want to help you address these needs.  Please email us and let us know about your current training needs/interests/issues.  We will evaluate our current trainings to see if we have something that can address your area of interest.  If we don't have the resources already available, we will look into the possibility of developing those resources for you.  Please send us an email at trainingnow@tulane.edu and let us see if we can be of help.  Thank you.

Master of Public Health (MPH) in Disaster Management

Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Department of Environmental Health Sciences

A new program in Disaster Management is being offered by Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Department of Environmental Health Sciences.  This program is offered both on campus and by distance learning through the Center for Applied Environmental Public Health (CAEPH).  Students may obtain either a graduate certificate or the full MPH in disaster management.  The Tulane CAEPH distance learning programs are geared to mid career professionals.  CAEPH uses state-of-the-art synchronous distance learning technologies to enhance learning and networking. 

For more information on the MPH program, please visit:

http://dl.caeph.tulane.edu or send an email to DLinfo@tulane.edu or call 1-800-862-2122.

Master of Public Health (MPH) in Public Health Preparedness Management and Policy

University of Alabama at Birmingham, School of Public Health, Department of Health Care Organization & Policy

This specialized degree covers all hazards preparedness topics including, event typologies, response organization, leadership and management, hazard and risk assessment policy development and evaluation and risk communication.

Public Health Preparedness Management and Policy Learning Objectives

• Describe the economic, legal, organization, and political underpinnings of the US health system with regard to preparedness

• Apply principles of management, finance, accounting and strategic planning in health care organizations with regard to preparedness; and

• Apply basic planning and management skills as well as risk assessment policy development and evaluation and risk communication necessary with regard to preparedness

For more information on the MPH degree, please visit:

https://www.soph.uab.edu/node/1213

Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) in Public Health Management

University of Alabama at Birmingham, School of Public Health, Department of Health Care Organization & Policy

The Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) program in Public Health Management prepares current and future public health leaders and research faculty to apply critical thinking and rigorous research methods to complex problems facing public health practitioners and policy makers.  The program focuses on public health management, organization, and leadership issues and allows students to specialize in preparedness management and policy or any of the other public health disciplines: biostatistics, environmental health sciences, epidemiology, or health behavior.

For more information on the DrPH degree, please visit:

https://www.soph.uab.edu/node/1214

Preparedness Minute Videos

Preparedness Minutes are video clips describing actions to take in emergency situations, whether they are at work or at home.  Some of the videos will be reminders, others will present new information.  Ultimately these videos will help you be prepared for an emergency or disaster.  Please visit the link below to watch any of our preparedness minute videos.

Watch Videos

The Management of Epidemic Disease

Population growth, societal aging, urbanization, rapid transportation, economic interdependence, and emerging infectious disease have expanded community vulnerability far beyond what could have been imagined a few generations ago. But, an expansion of medical technology has provided an array of tools and techniques for therapeutics and public health disease management never before imagined. The instructor will examine disease as a social event in an evolving global community and discuss why applying new systems and science is critical for tomorrow’s public health professional.

Infectious Disease

This course is a three module sequence covering a sampling of those areas of infectious disease relevant to public health professionals in the United States. The modules begin by discussing areas considered by the CDC to be the most important public health successes of the 20^th century. Control of certain major infectious diseases is a significant aspect of these successes. The modules then discuss the major gram positive and gram negative bacterial illnesses, selected viral, protozoal, prior, rickettsial and vaccine preventable disease. A major portion of the course is devoted to various clinical aspects of sexually transmitted disease and pandemic influenza. While these modules only represent a small sample of infectious disease, it is hoped that the student will gain an appreciation of the vast scope of this subject and its importance to modern public health.

Succession Planning for Public Health Agencies

In this course, the instructors will discuss the public health workforce shortage as well as succession planning, a key element in addressing that shortage.

Facilitator Training

In this course, the instructor will introduce methods and strategies used in facilitating meetings, workshops, tabletop exercises, and other events.

Burn Evaluation and Care for Emergency Responders

According to United States Fire Administration data, in 2007 fire killed more Americans than all natural disasters combined.  Approximately 10,000 people in the United States die every year because of infections that complicate burns.  While burn injuries are common in the United States, specialized burn centers often lack the capability to care for large numbers of burn victims.  For this reason, improved initial evaluation, triage and management of burn injuries can significantly impact victim outcomes.  These tasks are most commonly performed by emergency responders and first receivers (paramedics, nurses and physicians).  This course will raise the overall burn care expertise among participants and prepare these individuals to respond to public health threats and burn-related emergencies.

Alternative Standards of Care in Disaster

Emergency events and disasters require the affected population to adapt to rapidly changing circumstances including an often abruptly limited scope of public health services.  Optimization of outcome requires all available resources to be preserved, coordinated and focused so as to optimize community response in dealing with the normal ongoing needs of the stricken and spared populations, the special disaster-related needs of the population at risk and the special needs encountered by populations with special vulnerability.

Alternative standards of care will allow a community adapting to the hierarchy of needs of the population at risk to streamline and simplify the support process during arduous circumstances so as to maximally preserve life.  The development of rational "fall-back" positions preserves a rational process with accepted outcomes.  This permits effective prevention to drive resiliency into a preparation for emergency action which defines personnel, logistics and communications requirements enabling the most effective consequence management and leading to early, effective and coordinated recovery.  Guiding the integration of alternative standards into the public health system as a component of preparedness involves articulating the best amalgam of current technology and available resources capable of a robust and reliable outcome.

Prevention based management, broad based community planning driving integration of interests and resources across the broad range of interests and potentially responding agencies, is a critical step in advancing beyond the existing operational inadequacies, stovepiping and ineffective coordination of recovery based management.