Strengthening Public Health Management Capacity in Vietnam: Preparing Local Public Health Workers for New Roles in a Decentralized Health System.

Health sector decentralization has created an urgent need to strengthen public health management capacity in many countries throughout the developing world. This article describes the establishment of a national management training network in Vietnam that used Project-Based Learning to strengthen management competencies of HIV program workers and linked training to measurable improvement in HIV/AIDS public health program outcomes. Skills were taught using a combination of classroom learning and mentored fieldwork. From 2005 to 2015, 827 HIV/AIDS program managers were trained with this method throughout Vietnam by trainers in 3 regional training centers. A total of 218 applied learning projects were carried out by trainees during this period; 132 resulted in measurable improvements in HIV/AIDS program outputs, and 86 produced well-organized plans for implementing, monitoring, and evaluating HIV/AIDS intervention strategies. Vietnam's management training network represents an important advancement in public health workforce development that helps prepare workers for new roles and responsibilities in a decentralized health system.

The Philippines Field Management Training Program (FMTP): strengthening management capacity in a decentralized public health system.

OBJECTIVES: The decentralization of the Philippines' health sector in 1991 sought to improve the efficiency of local health resource allocation; however, local officials were unprepared for the increased responsibility. In 1999 the Philippines Department of Health, with assistance from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), implemented the Philippines Field Management Training Program (FMTP) to provide local health officials with the managerial skills needed to perform their new, more responsible jobs. This paper addresses whether the FMTP has provided participants with useful managerial skills needed for their more responsible positions. METHODS: The method involved reviewing program outcomes, including results of applied management improvement projects the participants completed to solve managerial problems. RESULTS: Between 2000 and 2010, 294 participants completed the FMTP and many were later promoted to more responsible positions. The participants also completed 204 applied management improvement projects resulting in documented improvements in service delivery, information systems, logistics, health insurance, policy and laboratory outcomes. Examples of their successes are included in this paper. CONCLUSIONS: The results provide compelling evidence that managers are using the skills learned to solve significant managerial problems.

Strengthening capacity in developing countries for evidence-based public health: the data for decision-making project.

Public health officials and the communities they serve need to: identify priority health problems; formulate effective health policies; respond to public health emergencies; select, implement, and evaluate cost-effective interventions to prevent and control disease and injury; and allocate human and financial resources. Despite agreement that rational, data-based decisions will lead to improved health outcomes, many public health decisions appear to be made intuitively or politically. During 1991-1996, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention implemented the US Agency for International Development funded Data for Decision-Making (DDM) Project. DDM goals were to: (a) strengthen the capacity of decision makers to identify data needs for solving problems and to interpret and use data appropriately for public health decisions; (b) enhance the capacity of technical advisors to provide valid, essential, and timely data to decision makers clearly and effectively; and (c) strengthen health information systems (HISs) to facilitate the collection, analysis, reporting, presentation, and use of data at local, district, regional, and national levels. Assessments were conducted to identify important health problems, problem-driven implementation plans with data-based solutions as objectives were developed, interdisciplinary, in-service training programs for mid-level policy makers, program managers, and technical advisors in applied epidemiology, management and leadership, communications, economic evaluation, and HISs were designed and implemented, national staff were trained in the refinement of HISs to improve access to essential data from multiple sources, and the effectiveness of the strategy was evaluated. This strategy was tested in Bolivia, Cameroon, Mexico, and the Philippines, where decentralization of health services led to a need to strengthen the capacity of policy makers and health officers at sub-national levels to use information more effectively. Results showed that the DDM strategy improved evidence-based public health. Subsequently, DDM concepts and practices have been institutionalized in participating countries and at CDC.

Strengthening the public health workforce: three CDC programs that prepare managers and leaders for the challenges of the 21st century.

To address the need for management development in public health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) established three independent workforce development initiatives aimed primarily at strengthening management and leadership capacity: the Sustainable Management Development Program, the Management Academy for Public Health, and the CDC Leadership and Management Institute. Though independently designed and implemented, the programs share similar guiding principles in their approach to management development: interactive (adult) learning, management tools that reinforce evidence-based decision making, individual feedback, continuous improvement of the learning process, posttraining support for networking and life-long learning, and teamwork. This article will discuss important lessons learned regarding best practices in management and leadership development.