IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i20p13084-d939531.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Public Health Workforce Gaps, Impacts, and Improvement Strategies from COVID-19

Author

Listed:
  • Chelsey Kirkland

    (Center for Public Health Systems, Division of Health Policy and Management, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA)

  • Kari Oldfield-Tabbert

    (Local Public Health Association of MN, Saint Paul, MN 55103, USA)

  • Harshada Karnik

    (Center for Public Health Systems, Division of Health Policy and Management, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA)

  • Jason Orr

    (Center for Public Health Systems, Division of Health Policy and Management, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA)

  • Skky Martin

    (Center for Public Health Systems, Division of Health Policy and Management, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA)

  • Jonathon P. Leider

    (Center for Public Health Systems, Division of Health Policy and Management, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA)

Abstract

The public health workforce has been instrumental in protecting residents against population health threats. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of the public health workforce and exposed gaps in the workforce. Public health practitioners nationwide are still coming to understand these gaps, impacts, and lessons learned from the pandemic. This study aimed to explore Minnesota’s local public health practitioners’ perceptions of public health workforce gaps, the impacts of these workforce gaps, and the lessons learned in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. We conducted seven concurrent focus groups with members of the Local Public Health Association of Minnesota (LPHA; n = 55) using a semi-structured focus group guide and a survey of the local agencies ( n = 70/72 respondents, 97% response rate). Focus group recordings were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using deductive and inductive coding (in vivo coding, descriptive coding), followed by thematic analysis. The quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive analyses and were integrated with the qualitative data. Participants indicated experiencing many workforce gaps, workforce gaps impacts, and described improvement strategies. Overall, many of the workforce gaps and impacts resulting from COVID-19 discussed by practitioners in Minnesota are observed in other areas across the nation, making the findings relevant to public health workforce nationally.

Suggested Citation

  • Chelsey Kirkland & Kari Oldfield-Tabbert & Harshada Karnik & Jason Orr & Skky Martin & Jonathon P. Leider, 2022. "Public Health Workforce Gaps, Impacts, and Improvement Strategies from COVID-19," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(20), pages 1-13, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:20:p:13084-:d:939531
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/20/13084/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/20/13084/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Catherine Cosgrave, 2020. "The Whole-of-Person Retention Improvement Framework: A Guide for Addressing Health Workforce Challenges in the Rural Context," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(8), pages 1-14, April.
    2. Leider, J.P. & Harper, E. & Shon, J.W. & Sellers, K. & Castrucci, B.C., 2016. "Job satisfaction and expected turnover among federal, state, and local public health practitioners," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 106(10), pages 1782-1788.
    3. Kahler W. Stone & Kristina W. Kintziger & Meredith A. Jagger & Jennifer A. Horney, 2021. "Public Health Workforce Burnout in the COVID-19 Response in the U.S," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(8), pages 1-11, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Tony Lee & Benjamin J. Becerra & Monideepa B. Becerra, 2023. "“ Seems Like There Is No Stopping Point at All Whatsoever ”: A Mixed-Methods Analysis of Public Health Workforce Perception on COVID-19 Pandemic Management and Future Needs," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(14), pages 1-9, July.
    2. Marin G. Olson & Karly M. Pyles & Danielle Kristen Nadorff, 2023. "Give until It Hurts: An Exploratory Analysis of Mental Health Workers’ Wellness," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(20), pages 1-11, October.
    3. Shan Parker & Vicki Johnson-Lawrence, 2022. "Addressing Trauma-Informed Principles in Public Health through Training and Practice," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(14), pages 1-14, July.
    4. Susan E. Peters & Glorian Sorensen & Jeffrey N. Katz & Daniel A. Gundersen & Gregory R. Wagner, 2021. "Thriving from Work: Conceptualization and Measurement," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(13), pages 1-20, July.
    5. Catherine Cosgrave, 2020. "Context Matters: Findings from a Qualitative Study Exploring Service and Place Factors Influencing the Recruitment and Retention of Allied Health Professionals in Rural Australian Public Health Servic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(16), pages 1-27, August.
    6. Karen A Campbell & Natasha Van Borek & Lenora Marcellus & Christine Kurtz Landy & Susan M Jack & on behalf of the British Columbia Healthy Connections Project Process Evaluation Research Team, 2020. "“The hardest job you will ever love”: Nurse recruitment, retention, and turnover in the Nurse-Family Partnership program in British Columbia, Canada," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(9), pages 1-21, September.
    7. Caroline Crossley & Marjorie Collett & Sandra C. Thompson, 2023. "Tracks to Postgraduate Rural Practice: Longitudinal Qualitative Follow-Up of Nursing Students Who Undertook a Rural Placement in Western Australia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(6), pages 1-18, March.
    8. Emma V. Taylor & Rosalie D. Thackrah & Sandra C. Thompson, 2022. "Improving Access to Cancer Treatment Services in Australia’s Northern Territory—History and Progress," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(13), pages 1-18, June.
    9. Ilana O. McCarthy & Ramal Moonesinghe & Hazel D. Dean, 2020. "Association of Employee Engagement Factors and Turnover Intention Among the 2015 U.S. Federal Government Workforce," SAGE Open, , vol. 10(2), pages 21582440209, June.
    10. Chulwoo Park & Eric Coles, 2022. "The Impact of Student Debt on Career Choices among Doctor of Public Health Graduates in the United States: A Descriptive Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(8), pages 1-13, April.
    11. Emma V. Taylor & Sarah Dugdale & Christine M. Connors & Gail Garvey & Sandra C. Thompson, 2024. "“A Huge Gap”: Health Care Provider Perspectives on Cancer Screening for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People in the Northern Territory," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 21(2), pages 1-20, January.
    12. Claire Ellen Seaman & Elyce Green & Kate Freire, 2022. "Effect of Rural Clinical Placements on Intention to Practice and Employment in Rural Australia: A Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-24, April.
    13. Katica Tripković & Milena Šantrić-Milićević & Milena Vasić & Mirjana Živković-Šulović & Marina Odalović & Vesna Mijatović-Jovanović & Zoran Bukumirić, 2021. "Factors Associated with Intention of Serbian Public Health Workers to Leave the Job: A Cross-Sectional, Population-Based Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(20), pages 1-14, October.
    14. Cristi Cain & D. Charles Hunt & Melissa Armstrong & Vicki L. Collie-Akers & Elizabeth Ablah, 2022. "Reasons for Turnover of Kansas Public Health Officials during the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(21), pages 1-15, November.
    15. Mi-Na Kim & Yang-Sook Yoo & Ok-Hee Cho & Kyung-Hye Hwang, 2022. "Emotional Labor and Burnout of Public Health Nurses during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Mediating Effects of Perceived Health Status and Perceived Organizational Support," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(1), pages 1-12, January.
    16. Sukhyun Ryu, 2020. "Turnover Intention among Field Epidemiologists in South Korea," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(3), pages 1-8, February.
    17. Belinda Kenny & David O'Connor & Ellie Sugden & Clarice Y. Tang & Caterina Tannous & Elizabeth Thyer, 2023. "Engaging Industry in Health Professions’ Education: Benefits and Challenges," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(12), pages 1-23, June.
    18. Florian Fischer & Julia Wicherski & Myriam Tobollik & Timothy McCall, 2022. "Experiences Shared by the (Future) Public Health Workforce during the COVD-19 Pandemic in Germany: Results of a Survey on Workload, Work Content, and Related Challenges among Students and Young Profes," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(18), pages 1-16, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:20:p:13084-:d:939531. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.