The Affordable Care Act's implications for a public health workforce agenda: taxonomy, enumeration, and the Standard Occupational Classification system.

The Affordable Care Act brings a renewed emphasis on the importance of public health services and those whose occupations are defined by performing the essential public health functions. The Affordable Care Act Prevention and Public Health Fund is a signal to the field that its work is important and critical to the health of the nation. Recent reports by the Institute of Medicine describe the changing dimensions of public health work in primary care integration and the need for enhanced financing of public health as investment. Gaining knowledge about the public health workforce, that is, how many workers there are and what they are doing, is of growing interest and concern for the field. Although enumeration of the public health workforce has been attempted several times by the federal government beginning as early as 1982, it was not until the year 2000 that a major effort was undertaken to obtain more complete information. Limitations that hampered Enumeration 2000 have persisted however. With implementation of the Affordable Care Act and other new ventures, key federal agencies are developing strategies to pursue a systemic and systematic enumeration and consistent taxonomy process. Included in these efforts is use of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Standard Occupational Classification system. A clear and accurate understanding of the public health workforce and its characteristics is a major challenge. A well-constructed, systematic enumeration process can add to our understanding of the nature and functions of that workforce. In addition, discussion of enumeration must include the need for a consensus within the field that leads to a consistent taxonomy for the public health occupations. This article will provide a stage-setting brief of historical actions regarding enumeration, and it will examine selected enumeration activities taking place currently. It will discuss positive and negative implications facing public health and the potential for enhancing the existing Standard Occupational Classification system to aid enumeration studies.

Continuing educational needs of APHA members within the professional public health workforce.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the continuing education needs of and method of course delivery for American Public Health Association (APHA) members. METHODS (DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS): The APHA Education Board developed a list of 37 potential continuing education courses, 20 of which were linked to course competencies. An electronic survey of 22 104 APHA members was conducted to determine members' priorities. Survey data included age, gender, race/ethnicity, highest academic degree obtained, workplace setting, educational needs, and preferred method of course delivery. Data were primarily analyzed using descriptive statistics. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Demographic data, educational needs, and preferred method of course delivery. RESULTS: Respondents numbered 5058, with 3836 (75.8%) interested in continuing education. For those indicating an interest, approximately 6 course areas per person were identified. A number of specific course areas were emphasized, including Leadership and Systems Thinking Skills and Policy Development and Program Planning. More than 50% of respondents favored obtaining courses using an online or computer-based format. Of the 24% uninterested in continuing education, 78% were in the age range of 25 to 65 years. CONCLUSIONS: Although this study identified continuing education needs of a wide cross section of APHA members, the response rate was low. Additional surveys should be conducted periodically to update course offerings and identify gaps in workforce training. Reasons for any disinterest in continuing education in public health should be explored.