Health Department Accreditation and Education for Public Health : Working Together to Improve Public Health Practice

Summary: National accreditation of governmental public health departments across the country has created new opportunities for health departments and schools and programs in public health to work together to improve public health practice. Public health department accreditation is based on a goal of improving the performance and quality of the work done by state, local, tribal and territorial health departments. There are several accreditation standards and measures that specifically speak to the health department collaboration with the academic community to develop the pipeline for future public health workforce, as well as the development of the existing public health workforce. The Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB) now has early evaluation data on how health departments are performing in these and other areas of interest to schools and programs in public health. Additionally, PHAB has developed and published an accreditation research agenda, which could serve as a basis for public health systems research conducted by faculty in schools of public health. This research agenda highlights topical areas for which faculty in schools and programs in public health are interested. Finally, PHAB has fostered placement of several public health students at the PHAB offices, and they have completed outstanding projects in public health accreditation, both nationally and locally. PHAB has developed some examples of the scholarly work that these students have completed, as well as some materials that PHAB proposes to offer to schools and programs in public health on accreditation, quality improvement and performance management of health departments.