Southern Center for Communication, Health & Poverty

Mission

Key to a functional approach to workforce development is the recognition that public health professionals are becoming increasingly diverse along dimensions of ethnicity and nationality, enter the field from a variety of backgrounds and are employed in very divergent settings and organizations. They may also address very different kinds of diseases and health risks. Yet the services that health care professionals render—what they do—exhibit considerable consistency. With this in mind, the training activities produced by this Core will seek to demonstrate the generalizability of key communication and cultural adaptation skills to a wide variety of public health settings and tasks.

A working definition and guiding framework of public health is provided by the “Ten Essential Public Health Services” developed in 1994 by the Core Public Health Functions Steering Committee comprised of representatives from US Public Health Service agencies and other major public health organizations. This prevailing workforce development model interfaces with seven cross-cutting or “core competencies for public health practice” that represent a set of skills, knowledge, and attitudes necessary for the broad practice of public health. This Core speaks directly to two of these cross-cutting competencies: communication and cultural competence.

Communication Skills- Specific Competencies

Communicates effectively both in writing and orally, or in other ways
Solicits input from individuals and organizations
Advocates for public health programs and resources
Leads and participates in groups to address specific issues
Uses the media, advanced technologies, and community networks to communicate information
Effectively presents accurate demographic, statistical, programmatic, and scientific information for professional and lay audiences

Attitudes

Listens to others in an unbiased manner, respects points of view of others, and promotes the expression of diverse opinions and perspectives

Cultural Competency- Specific Competencies

Utilizes appropriate methods for interacting sensitively, effectively, and professionally with persons from diverse cultural, socioeconomic, educational, racial, ethnic and professional backgrounds, and persons of all ages and lifestyle preferences
Identifies the role of cultural, social, and behavioral factors in determining the delivery of public health services
Develops and adapts approaches to problems that take into account cultural differences

Attitudes

Understands the dynamic forces contributing to cultural diversity
Understands the importance of a diverse public health workforce

Core Team

Dr. Donald L. Rubin

Lisa Goodin

Paul Mathews

Training Materials

Current Projects

Workforce needs assessment is certainly the backbone for strategic planning of public health training and development. In the fall of 2006, 53 state and local health public information officers who are members of the National Public Health Information Coalition (NPHIC) were asked to complete an online survey to identify the training needs and preferences of PIOs. The needs assessed in this particular survey were focused specifically on communication to reduce health disparities. Click here for brief overview of the results from our assessment. Click here for the full report.
Evaluating web-based training materials Relatively few online resources offer direct instruction in communication and marketing to reduce health disparities. A great many excellent public health workforce development resources, however, do touch on the Center’s mission. The Core is always on the lookout for web-based public health workforce training materials related to communication and cultural competence. Please see our top ten list.
Delivery of workforce development training For the past two years Core B has hosted workshops for state public health information officers at the NPHIC conference. The workshops offer an efficient vehicle for delivering face-to-face training in health communication and marketing to reduce health disparities. Click here to view slides from the 2007 workshop, "Framing Messages to Reduce Health Disparities" (PowerPoint) conducted by Dr. Susan Kirby.
Interactive web cast workshops We have created two web cast workshops for local health district risk communicators and for state public health information officers and their staffs. The first one is entitled, Building liaisons with Latino communities: A series of focused video briefings for public health information officers and emergency/risk communicators and the second one is entitled Guidance for BT/risk communicators in collaborating with faith- based African American communities for pandemic flu preparedness. View Webcasts.
Course modules for campus-delivered classes in public communication for MPH students and graduate students in health sciences have been developed based on needs assessment. The Core is using these traditional public health education programs and courses as vehicles for infusing curriculum with materials pertaining to communication and marketing to reduce health disparities. These materials include (1) extended case study portfolios for case method instruction, (2) project assignments for problem based learning (PBL), (3) web-based multimedia modules for teaching specific skills or approaches (e.g., writing press releases or conducting culturally sensitive audience analyses), and (4) role-playing exercises. Click here for a copy of “Working with the Media.” Click here for a copy of the accompanying Power Point slides on How to write a news release and The art of being interviewed by the media.

Future Projects

Needs assessment will continue in 2006 and 2007 with the Core’s three constituencies. In particular, the original instrument will be re-administered to determine if ranking of needs change over the course of time. It is hypothesized that longitudinal data within the three clientele groups will reveal shifts in perceived needs away from skill sets that are addressed in Center training materials.
A sponsored workshop is scheduled for the annual NPHIC conference in 2008. The topic will be on building culturally competent websites.
We are currently planning for a third web cast workshop. More information coming soon.
Evaluation of Core B effectiveness Consistent with the view that stakeholder buy-in is crucial for establishing criteria for evaluating this Core, several specific standards will be ascertained upon consultation with members of the three Core clientele groups.

Resources

Web Based Instruction in Communication to Reduce Health Disparities: The Top 10 List

Selection Criteria:

Offered via the internet and free of charge
Length of time to complete is a half an hour or up to four hours, or the participants have the option to pick up where they left off
Target audience is specifically general public health staff and/or includes public relations or media specialists, and health educators
The topic is focused on either cultural competency or health/risk communication
Resource is either interactive or offers a variety of learning tools (slides, discussion, video clips, handouts
Public health core competencies and attitudes are covered (in this case cultural competency and communication skills)

1. Communicate to Make a Difference: Exploring Cross Cultural Communication. Sponsored by the New York-New Jersey Public Health Training Center. This interactive online training course allows participants to develop their own responses to a variety of ideas and typical situations regarding culture, communication and public health. Great practice tool! This training can be accessed at: www.nynj-phtc.org

2. Communicate to Make a Difference: Practicing Cross-Cultural Communication. Sponsored by the New York-New Jersey Public Health Training Center. This training offers participants the opportunity to work through three realistic case studies. The first pertains to implementing a public health intervention, the second, enforcing laws and regulations that protect health and ensure safety, and the third module deals with establishing a new community outreach program. All three modules provide invaluable information and opportunity to practice cross-cultural communication skills. This training can be accessed at: www.nynj-phtc.org

3. T2B2: Communicating Across Cultures. Sponsored by the University at Albany, School of Public Health. This hour long program focuses on barriers to effective cross-cultural communication and possible strategies to overcome these barriers. Four case studies are introduced at the beginning of the program with a discussion to follow. This program can be accessed at: http://www.albany.edu/sph/coned/t2b2communicating.htm

4. Cultural Competency. Sponsored by the North Carolina Center for Public Health Preparedness. This half hour program features a series of Power Point slides with an audio narrative. Information provided includes a brief overview of laws concerning cultural competency, how cultural competency applies to public health and how to develop an assessment tool to measure cultural competence. The program provides essential information for anyone interested in providing optimal service to diverse populations. This training can be accessed at: http://nccphp.sph.unc.edu/training/HEP_CULTC/certificate.php

5.Building Liaison with Latino Communities: A series of focused video briefings for public health information officers and emergency/risk communicators. Sponsored by the Southern Center for Communication, Health and Poverty. This series of video clips provides basic information intended to help prepare Georgia's Public Information Officers and Risk Communicators and other interested personnel, to communicate more effectively with Hispanic/Latino audiences. Both general background information as well as specific suggestions and examples are provided.

6. T2B2: Latino Migrant Health. Sponsored by the University at Albany, School of Public Health. This hour long program provides a general overview regarding health-related issues and needs of the Latino community in the United States, in particular, Latino immigrants. This program can be used in conjunction with the program put out by The Southern Center for Communication Health and Poverty (see #5). This program can be accessed at: http://www.albany.edu/docs.sph/coned/t2b2migrant.htm

7. Unified Health Communication 101: Addressing Health Literacy, Cultural
Competency, and Limited English Proficiency. Sponsored by Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). The course has five modules that cover barriers to effective communication (e.g., health literacy, cultural competency and low English proficiency) and takes approximately five hours to complete. This training can be accessed at www.train.org

8. T2B2: Health Literacy. Sponsored by the University at Albany, School of Public Health. This hour long program provides basic information pertaining to health literacy and what results when health care professionals fail to communicate effectively. Viewers will learn how to use specific techniques to improve the success of public health education campaigns. This program can be accessed at: http://www.albany.edu/sph/coned/t2b2healthliteracy.htm

9. Health Literacy and Public Health. Sponsored by the New York-New Jersey Public Health Training Center. This in-depth training is a complimentary follow-up to the two previous T2B2 health literacy webcasts. Participants are encouraged to watch the T2B2 webcasts and then complete this training. Topics covered include who is affected by low literacy, the consequences of low literacy and the barriers and facilitators of effective public health communication. This training can be accessed at: www.nynj-phtc.org

10. T2B2: Creating Health Equity Through Social Justice. Sponsored by the University at Albany, School of Public Health. This hour long program examines health disparities related to race and socioeconomic status and potential solutions. This training can be accessed at: http://www.albany.edu/sph/coned/t2b2healthequity.htm

Webcasts

Building Liasions with Latino Communities: A series of focused video briefings for public health information officers and emergency/risk communicators.

Guidance for BT/Risk Communicators in Collaborating with Faith- Based African American Communities for Pandemic Flu Preparedness