Cultural adaptation in translational research: field experiences. (17/68)

The increase in the incidence of HIV/AIDS among minorities in the United States and in certain developing nations has prompted new intervention priorities, stressing the adaptation of efficacious interventions for diverse and marginalized groups. The experiences of Florida International University's AIDS Prevention Program in translating HIV primary and secondary prevention interventions among these multicultural populations provide insight into the process of cultural adaptations and address the new scientific emphasis on ecological validity. An iterative process involving forward and backward translation, a cultural linguistic committee, focus group discussions, documentation of project procedures, and consultations with other researchers in the field was used to modify interventions. This article presents strategies used to ensure fidelity in implementing the efficacious core components of evidence-based interventions for reducing HIV transmission and drug use behaviors and the challenges posed by making cultural adaptation for participants with low literacy. This experience demonstrates the importance of integrating culturally relevant material in the translation process with intense focus on language and nuance. The process must ensure that the level of intervention is appropriate for the educational level of participants. Furthermore, the rights of participants must be protected during consenting procedures by instituting policies that recognize the socioeconomic, educational, and systemic pressures to participate in research.  (+info)

Integration of academia and practice in preparedness training: the Harvard School of Public Health experience. (18/68)

Given the need for public health professionals well trained in emergency preparedness and response, students in public health programs require ample practical training to prepare them for careers in public health practice. The Harvard School of Public Health Center for Public Health Preparedness has been instrumental in the creation and implementation of a course entitled, "Bioterrorism: Public Health Preparedness and Response." This course features lectures on specific applications of public health practice in emergency preparedness and response. In addition, it provides students the opportunity to operationalize and apply their knowledge during an interactive tabletop exercise. In light of their university affiliations and expertise in providing preparedness training, other Academic Centers for Public Health Preparedness have the opportunity to be instrumental in providing similar training to graduate students of public health.  (+info)

Partnering for preparedness: the project public health ready experience. (19/68)

Effective partnerships between local and state public health agencies and schools of public health have tremendous potential to improve the health of communities nationwide. This article highlights successful collaboration between local public health agencies (LPHA), state health departments, and Academic Centers for Public Health Preparedness (ACPHP) in schools of public health developed through participation in Project Public Health Ready, a program to recognize LPHA emergency preparedness. The project's pilot phase illustrated that LPHAs, state health departments, and ACPHP can effectively work together to improve individual public health worker competency and organizational response capacity in local public health agencies nationwide.  (+info)

Public health and terrorism preparedness: cross-border issues. (20/68)

On December 15, 2003, the Centers for Public Health Preparedness at the University of Minnesota and the University of Iowa convened the "Public Health and Terrorism Preparedness: Cross-Border Issues Roundtable." The purpose of the roundtable was to gather public health professionals and government agency representatives at the state, provincial, and local levels to identify unmet cross-border emergency preparedness and response needs and develop strategies for addressing these needs. Representatives from six state and local public health departments and three provincial governments were invited to identify cross-border needs and issues using a nominal group process. The result of the roundtable was identification of the needs considered most important and most doable across all the focus groups. The need to collaborate on and exchange plans and protocols among agencies was identified as most important and most doable across all groups. Development of contact protocols and creation and maintenance of a contact database was also considered important and doable for a majority of groups. Other needs ranked important across the majority of groups included specific isolation and quarantine protocols for multi-state responses; a system for rapid and secure exchange of information; specific protocols for sharing human resources across borders, including emergency credentials for physicians and health care workers; and a specific protocol to coordinate Strategic National Stockpile mechanisms across border communities.  (+info)

Competency mapping and analysis for public health preparedness training initiatives. (21/68)

Competency-based education and assessment initiatives have been completed in a number of health care and health management professions during the past decade. In addition, several competency specification endeavors have been similarly undertaken in relation to the field of public health, including the development of the Council on Linkages between Academia and Public Health Practice competency model and the initial competency modeling Delphi survey completed by the Association of Schools of Public Health. All of these organizations have subsequently had to address the many challenges and barriers to the dissemination and integration of their models into specific educational and professional development practices. As previously addressed by many researchers in the field of competency modeling and deployment, understanding and acceptance of competency-based systems are formidable goals, often rife with controversy. This article describes the processes undertaken by The University of Michigan Center for Public Health Preparedness to integrate competency-based learning and assessment in educational and training initiatives with its many community partners.  (+info)

Team Epi-Aid: graduate student assistance with urgent public health response. (22/68)

Team Epi-Aid provides graduate students with practical public health experience through participation in outbreak investigations and other applied projects with state and local health departments in North Carolina. It is an initiative of the North Carolina Center for Public Health Preparedness in the North Carolina Institute for Public Health at the University of North Carolina School of Public Health. The program allows state and local health departments access to volunteers and technical expertise from the university when they need assistance. It requires close collaboration with state and county health departments. Team Epi-Aid provides the opportunity for integrated learning with students and faculty within the departments of the School of Public Health, and through recent expansion, within the schools of Medicine and Pharmacy. Orientations are conducted each semester and formal training is provided as needed. Team Epi-Aid has been popular, with 58 active student participants contributing 1,465 hours of service during the initiative's first 21 months.  (+info)

Assuring public health professionals are prepared for the future: the UAB public health integrated core curriculum. (23/68)

In response to calls to improve public health education and our own desire to provide a more relevant educational experience to our Master of Public Health students, the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) School of Public Health designed, developed, and instituted a fully integrated public health core curriculum in the fall of 2001. This curriculum combines content from discipline-specific courses in biostatistics, environmental health, epidemiology, health administration, and the social and behavioral sciences, and delivers it in a 15 credit hour, team-taught course designed in modules covering such topics as tobacco, infectious diseases, and emergency preparedness. Weekly skills-building sessions increase student competence in data analysis and interpretation, communication, ethical decision-making, community-based interventions, and policy and program planning. Evaluations affirm that the integrated core is functioning as intended: as a means to provide critical content in the core disciplines in their applied context. As public health education continues to be debated, the UAB public health integrated core curriculum can serve as one model for providing quality instruction that is highly relevant to professional practice.  (+info)

The UCLA tobacco control program. (24/68)

Tobacco use, the most preventable cause of death in our society and a growing international epidemic, should be well understood by all students preparing to enter the field of public health. Despite its importance, however, tobacco does not always enjoy the prominence it deserves in public health education. We report here on efforts to expand the focus on tobacco in the University of California Los Angeles School of Public Health through a program supported by the Association of Schools of Public Health/American Legacy Foundation's Scholarship, Training, and Education Program for Tobacco Use Prevention funding mechanism. We describe steps to increase tobacco content in required and elective courses; offer elective courses on tobacco; implement a pre-doctoral scholarship program featuring coursework, fieldwork, and exposure to tobacco issues at national meetings; and establish a tobacco-focused workshop series. We outline program successes, structural barriers to achieving some programmatic goals, and the program's early termination.  (+info)