ABSTRACT
For decades, the public health service in Germany (PHS) experienced shortages of young professionals and challenges in recruiting qualified personnel. To sustainably counteract this challenge, it is necessary to understand the reasons of the perceived low attractiveness of PHS as a potential employer among students and young professionals. Two cross-sectional online surveys were conducted to assess the attitudes of medical, public health, and health science students towards the PHS as a potential employer. Wave 1, conducted from 2019-12 to 2020-04, focused on factors associated with high and with low interest in working for the PHS. Wave 2 was conducted from 2020-06 to 2020-09 to capture changes that may have resulted from the newfound attention of the PHS during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Participants in both waves were asked about opportunities to increase the attractiveness of the PHS, which were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. In total 3040 students participated. Low interest in the PHS was associated with limited knowledge about public health, primary interest in clinical medicine, and a negative image of the public service. The qualitative analysis indicated as major obstacles: low visibility of and low awareness about the PHS, a perception of hierarchical and bureaucratic workplaces, and perceptions of repetitive occupations, among others. The participants suggested: improving awareness about the PHS in the population, including PHS in curriculum, and reducing entry barriers for non-medical students. The results of the largest survey of students on the attractiveness of the ÖGD in Germany provide valuable insights for ongoing reform processes. In addition to approaches to increase external visibility, existing processes and procedures within the ÖGD should be considered. Key messages • To counteract the shortage of skilled workers, the PHS must become more attractive to young professionals. This requires both, greater external visibility and modernization of internal structures. • Successful inclusion of the perspective of young professionals in the current modernization processes introduces opportunities to increase the attractiveness of the PHS in the long-term.
ABSTRACT
Einleitung The Public Health Service in Germany (PHS, German: ÖGD) has been suffering from a significant shortage of young professionals for decades. An issue likely to intensify in the coming years due to demographic processes. This applies not only, but especially, to the municipal level. The reasons for the perceived low attractiveness of the PHS as a potential employer have been widely discussed, but so far, no empirical data is available. Therefore, the German Network of Young Professionals in Public Health (German: NOEG), has set up a study to analyze the attractiveness of the PHS as a potential employer for young professionals. Methoden We conducted two cross-sectional surveys to assess the requirements and expectations of students in PHSrelevant fields of study with regard to their future employers. The first survey (wave 1) was conducted from December 2019 to April 2020 and focused on wishes and expectations of medical, public health, and health science students regarding their prospective jobs and employers. It was postulated that the various roles and activities of the public health workforce within the PHS are of interest to many students but are not considered as potential fields of employment for a variety of reasons. The second survey (wave 2) was conducted from June to September 2020 to be able to address any changes that may have resulted from the newfound attention on the PHS during the coronavirus crisis, to identify changes in the evaluation of the PHS as a potential employer form a young professional perspective. Ergebnisse In the wave 1, 2456 students participated, with an additional 584 taking part in wave 2. Medical students were less likely to report interest in working for the PHS in comparison with public health students and students of other health sciences. The vast majority of those medical students that considered the PHS as a potential employer reported their main interest as working in primary health care. Public health students and other students have experienced barriers when seeking jobs in the PHS. The respondees reported on a number of domains contributing to a low attractiveness of the PHS as an employer, such as the PHS being perceived as antiquated, inefficient and slow, the occupations consisting of too much braucracy, and limited career opportunities. Suggestions for improvement included a stronger occupational focus on prevention, health promotion and public health impact, modernization and digitalization, as well as providing attractive job offers for candidates without a professional training in medicine. Schlussfolgerung The results of this largest survey regarding the attractivenss of the German PHS among students provide valuable insights for the reform of the German PHS. We synthesized a number of suggestions for reform, among others regarding training and education, occupation in the PHS, adminstrative processes, and career opportunities.
ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic has made global inequalities significantly worse, with women being disproportionately affected. It has also urgently demonstrated the need to rethink how we respond to global health threats, including the planetary emergency, notably climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution. To be genuinely transformative, preventing pandemics requires addressing three systemic problems directly related to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). First, the under-representation of women in leadership and, second, the dominance of sectoral policy decisions, which do not allow for systems-based responses. A third challenge to address is those and current dominant economic systems that disregard externalities causing dangerous environmental degradation and increasing risks of pandemics. These problems undermine critical development and human health progress achieved in previous decades, with a disproportionate impact on women in low-income countries. Recognizing the urgency to develop actionable ways to translate research into practice, this chapter explores how gender equality accelerates the implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The analysis concludes by showcasing pragmatic and holistic approaches to enhance gender equality while strengthening the health-environment nexus. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
ABSTRACT
The outbreak of Coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic is no doubt the greatest worldwide challenge at this point of time. After its discovery in China in late 2019, the virus spreads fiercely through various social transmissions, causing more than 60 million confirmed cases and close to 1.9 million deaths by early 2021. On 11th March 2020, the WHO went on to declare the onset of COVID-19 pandemic. To lessen societal pressure and restore normalcy, many countries committed to vaccination have introduced the COVID-19 immunity passports, certificates, or licenses, collectively called the COVID-19 immunity certificate. This is to legally certify that the certificate bearer has been vaccinated and is immune to COVID-19. However, there exists several practical and legal obstacles to efficiently track/trace the certificates. Matter of fact, this kind of certificate is to impose restrictions on who can and who cannot participate in an official social activity. This has regrettably promoted the fabrication of the certificate and is casting doubt on the vaccination integrity. In this paper, we thus propose a novel blockchain-based system for establishing trust on the certificate bearer and to eradicate vaccination immunity certificate fraud. Our proposed system is aimed to address the issues in trackability, and traceability of the data embedded in the immunity certificate. This is to uphold the trust on the certificate bearer/holder that all necessary precautions pertaining to COVID-19 vaccination have been legally obeyed and complied with. The system can track the origin of the COVID-19 immunity certificate and monitor the vaccines process flow at each step of its manufacturing and its associated chain of distribution. © 2022 IEEE.
ABSTRACT
Background The COVID-19 pandemic calls for a skilled health workforce, yet global health is largely missing in the medical curriculum in Germany. The interdisciplinary national student “Global Health Network” therefore initiated an online lecture series. “Global Health - perspectives, opportunities and challenges” included 14 lectures on a range of topics held by German and international academics from October 2020 to January 2021. Methods Evaluations were performed prior to, at midterm and after the series, including 5-point likert scales and open questions. Using quantitative and qualitative approaches, participants' motivation and learning outcomes of global health education were analysed. Results A total of 1393 students registered for the series. Individual lectures attracted on average 400 participants, mainly female medical students between 20-25 years, but also a variety of ages, genders and disciplines. Main reasons for participation included interest in COVID-19-related developments, learning about global health-specific topics, and professional development. More than 40% of participants reported to know little about global health before attending;after the lecture series, only 10% made this statement. In addition, 90% of participants perceived an increase of motivation to learn more about the topics, while about 40% gained motivation to become practically involved in the field. The lecture series was accredited in the curriculum at some universities, thus innovating the curriculum and enabling formal credits. Conclusions The new model of student-led online teaching proved to be feasible and demonstrated students' interest and positive impact on global health knowledge. Further institutional change and inclusion of global health in the curricula have to follow. Key messages Students need global health education to respond to global health-related challenges. Volunteer student-led initiatives can increase knowledge and interest and be an important driver for change towards improving global health education.
ABSTRACT
In this article, members of the German Network of Young Professionals in Public Health, discuss the opportunities and challenges of the Health in All Policies (HiAP) approach, in view of the current COVID-19 pandemic. It outlines various perspectives, from the interaction and cooperation of different policy areas to the national Public Health Service.