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. 2015 Nov-Dec;21 Suppl 6(Suppl 6):S13-27.
doi: 10.1097/PHH.0000000000000331.

The Public Health Workforce Interests and Needs Survey: The First National Survey of State Health Agency Employees

Katie Sellers  1 , Jonathon P Leider, Elizabeth Harper, Brian C Castrucci, Kiran Bharthapudi, Rivka Liss-Levinson, Paul E Jarris, Edward L Hunter
Affiliations

The Public Health Workforce Interests and Needs Survey: The First National Survey of State Health Agency Employees

Katie Sellers et al. J Public Health Manag Pract. 2015 Nov-Dec.

Abstract

Context: Public health practitioners, policy makers, and researchers alike have called for more data on individual worker's perceptions about workplace environment, job satisfaction, and training needs for a quarter of a century. The Public Health Workforce Interests and Needs Survey (PH WINS) was created to answer that call.

Objective: Characterize key components of the public health workforce, including demographics, workplace environment, perceptions about national trends, and perceived training needs.

Design: A nationally representative survey of central office employees at state health agencies (SHAs) was conducted in 2014. Approximately 25,000 e-mail invitations to a Web-based survey were sent out to public health staff in 37 states, based on a stratified sampling approach. Balanced repeated replication weights were used to account for the complex sampling design.

Setting and participants: A total of 10,246 permanently employed SHA central office employees participated in PH WINS (46% response rate).

Main outcome measures: Perceptions about training needs; workplace environment and job satisfaction; national initiatives and trends; and demographics.

Results: Although the majority of staff said they were somewhat or very satisfied with their job (79%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 78-80), as well as their organization (65%; 95% CI, 64-66), more than 42% (95% CI, 41-43) were considering leaving their organization in the next year or retiring before 2020; 4% of those were considering leaving for another job elsewhere in governmental public health. The majority of public health staff at SHA central offices are female (72%; 95% CI, 71-73), non-Hispanic white (70%; 95% CI, 69-71), and older than 40 years (73%; 95% CI, 72-74). The greatest training needs include influencing policy development, preparing a budget, and training related to the social determinants of health.

Conclusions: PH WINS represents the first nationally representative survey of SHA employees. It holds significant potential to help answer previously unaddressed questions in public health workforce research and provides actionable findings for SHA leaders.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1 •
FIGURE 1 •
Employee Level of Satisfaction With Job, Organization, and Pay.
FIGURE 2 •
FIGURE 2 •
Gaps in Training Among Central Office Employees at State Health Agencies.
APPENDIX FIGURE 1 •
APPENDIX FIGURE 1 •
State Health Agency Participation in PH WINS
APPENDIX FIGURE 2 •
APPENDIX FIGURE 2 •
Paired HHS Regions in the Public Health Workforce Interests and Needs Survey 2014
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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