Successful Strategies for Recruitment of Emergency Medical Volunteers

2013 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 266-271
Author(s):  
Anne Rinchiuso Hasselmann
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
New York ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Professional Organization ◽  
Local Health ◽  
Volunteer Program ◽  
Medical Reserve Corps ◽  
Recruitment Activities ◽  
Health Commissioner

AbstractObjectivesA robust medical volunteer program is critical to ensuring a successful response to public health and medical emergencies. The New York City (NYC) Department of Health and Mental Hygiene created the NYC Medical Reserve Corps in 2003 to build a multidisciplinary team of health professionals who wish to assist NYC with response during large-scale health emergencies. This article reports on the search to determine which recruitment activities have been most successful to date, with the goal of modeling future activities upon those that worked best.MethodsA retrospective review of effectiveness of recruitment strategies to identify and register new NYC Medical Reserve Corps volunteers was undertaken.ResultsA broad range of recruitment activities have been implemented since the program's inception, with varying degrees of success. Various recruitment modalities were tried, including direct invitations to licensed professionals by the NYC Health Commissioner and announcements through professional organization partners. The direct invitation by the NYC Health Commissioner to health professionals licensed in 1 of the 5 boroughs of NYC has proved to be the most successful recruitment tool to date.ConclusionsThe local health commissioner or other trusted community figure is an excellent messenger for recruiting emergency volunteers. It is also critical that recruitment messages reach as many potential volunteers as possible to ensure that the requisite number of volunteers and mix of professional disciplines are identified. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2013;7:266-271)

Barriers to Meeting Community Needs in New York State during COVID-19: Results From a Pilot Survey of Nongovernmental Population and Community Health Professionals

2021 ◽  
pp. 152483992110654
Author(s):  
Renata Schiavo ◽  
Mayela Arana ◽  
Nicole Levy ◽  
Yesenia Grijalva ◽  
Sarah Ravenhall ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
New York ◽  
Community Health ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
New York State ◽  
Local Health ◽  
Local Health Departments ◽  
York State ◽  
And Training

Capacity building and training help empower the community and population health organizations to partner with local health departments and collaboratively design multisectoral interventions that account for the complexity of public health and health promotion challenges in the era of COVID-19 and beyond. Ideally, training programs should be informed by an understanding of the needs and priorities of the professionals for whom they are intended. This brief report focuses on the results of a pilot online survey conducted as part of a larger pilot study by the New York State Association of County Health Officials and the Region 2 Public Health Training Center among population and community health professionals (n = 27) from four counties in New York State during the COVID-19 pandemic. Survey participants included a diverse group of staff members from various large and small nonprofit organizations, federally qualified health centers, academic institutions, hospitals, and insurers. Survey findings provide preliminary insights into the extent to which these organizations have been involved in the COVID-19 response in partnership with LHDs, barriers they faced in responding to the needs of the populations they serve and adjusting their work routines/operations to COVID-19 guidelines, and their top emerging organizational and training needs. Lessons learned from conducting an online survey during a public health emergency and implications for future training interventions for population and community health professionals are also discussed within the context of promoting multisectoral collaboration with local health departments, solving complex public health problems, and advancing health equity.

scholarly journals Strengthening Epidemiologic Competencies among Local Health Professionals in New York: Teaching Evidence-Based Public Health

2008 ◽  
Vol 123 (1_suppl) ◽  
pp. 35-43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Maylahn ◽  
Cate Bohn ◽  
Mark Hammer ◽  
Edward C. Waltz
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
New York ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Local Health

Toolkit for Epidemiologic Response to an Acute Chemical Release

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 631-632 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary Anne Duncan ◽  
Maureen F. Orr
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Technical Assistance ◽  
Local Health ◽  
Toxic Substances ◽  
Public Health Action ◽  
Public Health Agencies ◽  
Chemical Release ◽  
State And Local ◽  
The Many

AbstractWhen a large chemical incident occurs and people are injured, public health agencies need to be able to provide guidance and respond to questions from the public, the media, and public officials. Because of this urgent need for information to support appropriate public health action, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) of the US Department of Health and Human Services has developed the Assessment of Chemical Exposures (ACE) Toolkit. The ACE Toolkit, available on the ATSDR website, offers materials including surveys, consent forms, databases, and training materials that state and local health personnel can use to rapidly conduct an epidemiologic investigation after a large-scale acute chemical release. All materials are readily adaptable to the many different chemical incident scenarios that may occur and the data needs of the responding agency. An expert ACE team is available to provide technical assistance on site or remotely. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2016;10:631–632)

scholarly journals The importance of an early alert from the Microbiology Laboratory and multidisciplinary collaboration during a suspected salmonellosis outbreak

2017 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Adriano Anesi ◽  
Maria Lucia Panceri ◽  
Sara Asticcioli ◽  
Dominga Baroni ◽  
Vanina Rognoni ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Antibiotic Resistance ◽  
Food Industry ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Regulatory Agencies ◽  
Local Health ◽  
Microbiology Laboratory ◽  
Food Borne ◽  
Local Health Service ◽  
Sporadic Cases

<em>Background and aims.</em> Salmonellosis is one of the most common and widely distributed food-borne diseases. The increasing complexity and globalization of the food industry are causing an increase of some of these large-scale food-borne illnesses, thus there is a need for improvements in public health signal detection and communication streams between laboratories and regulatory agencies. The aim of this study is to show how the early reporting of salmonellosis cases directly from the Laboratory of Microbiology to the Local Health Service Infectious Diseases Office along with the prompt response of the ASL, and the rapid involvement of the Local Veterinary Prevention Department resulted in an improved individuation and investigation of a suspected food-borne outbreak with anomalous manifestation. <br /><em>Materials and methods.</em> From August to November 2014 the early warning from the Laboratory of Microbiology regarding <em>Salmonella</em> spp. isolates with the identical serogroup and antibiotic resistance phenotype, allowed for prompt identification of a food-borne infection. <br /><em>Results and conclusions.</em> The genotyping analysis suggested that over the period considered there was more than a single monophasic <em>Salmonella</em> <em>typhimurium</em> isolate: one responsible for the sporadic cases that occurred in September and October, and another in November.

How Community and Public Health Partnerships Contribute to Disaster Recovery and Resilience

2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 635-643 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joie D. Acosta ◽  
Lane Burgette ◽  
Anita Chandra ◽  
David P. Eisenman ◽  
Ingrid Gonzalez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
New York ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Health Department ◽  
Hurricane Sandy ◽  
Local Health ◽  
Storm Damage ◽  
Public Health Services ◽  
Role Of Government ◽  
Community Needs

AbstractObjectiveTo summarize ways that networks of community-based organizations (CBO), in partnership with public health departments, contribute to community recovery from disaster.MethodsThe study was conducted using an online survey administered one and 2 years after Hurricane Sandy to the partnership networks of 369 CBO and the New York Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. The survey assessed the structure and durability of networks, how they were influenced by storm damage, and whether more connected networks were associated with better recovery outcomes.ResultsDuring response and recovery, CBOs provide an array of critical public health services often outside their usual scope. New CBO partnerships were formed to support recovery, particularly in severely impacted areas. CBOs that were more connected to other CBOs and were part of a long-term recovery committee reported greater impacts on the community; however, a partnership with the local health department was not associated with recovery impacts.ConclusionCBO partners are flexible in their scope of services, and CBO partnerships often emerge in areas with the greatest storm damage, and subsequently the greatest community needs. National policies will advance if they account for the dynamic and emergent nature of these partnerships and their contributions, and clarify the role of government partners. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2018;12:635–643)

scholarly journals Actions of a Brazilian public telehealth service to help coping with the new coronavirus

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
L B Silva ◽  
L A P Sousa ◽  
R E Resende ◽  
A A Fortini ◽  
C G Pessoa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
General Population ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Ventilatory Support ◽  
Medical Specialties ◽  
Low Resource Settings ◽  
Low Resource ◽  
Telehealth Service ◽  
Resource Setting

Abstract Background In January/2020 the respiratory disease caused by the new coronavirus was declared as an international public health emergency. In Brazil, until June 22nd there were 1,11 million confirmed cases. In this context, the Telehealth Network of Minas Gerais (TNMG), a large-scale public telehealth service, acted quickly to assist professionals and the population in coping with the disease, mainly in low resource settings. Aim To report the experience of a Brazilian public telehealth service in actions to manage COVID-19 and its impacts. Methods Experience report. Results The TNMG developed 15 infographics and 16 web lectures for health professionals and general population about key themes, such as respiratory syndromes, personal care and ventilatory support. Two of them were live, seen in real time by 13,422 professionals, mainly nurses (63.8%) and doctors (31.1%), from 45 medical specialties (most family physicians-34.0%), in all Brazilian states, especially the Southeast region (58.5%). All lectures were uploaded on TNMG's Youtube channel, each one reaching 5,300 viewers on average. Specific to support health professionals: 2 guidelines were developed - one for primary care units and other to emergency/intensive care; a category for offline (second opinion) teleconsultations was created for doubts about coronavirus; and a list with 39 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) was developed. For the general population: 65 FAQs were developed; a health team from a low resource setting was trained to provide online teleconsultations; and a chatbot was released to automatically answer COVID-19 related doubts and/or evaluate a user's health condition, indicating if emergency medical care was needed. All resources are freely available on TNMG's website and on its social networks. Conclusions Telehealth tools had a notable acceptance and were shown to be an effective way to disseminate information for professionals and lay population throughout the country. Key messages Telehealth tools have been proven to be an effective strategy to promote health education, for both professionals and the general population. Telemedicine plays a fundamental role on dealing with public health issues, especially on low resource settings.

Health Promotion at the Ballpark

2016 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 229-237 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bonni C. Hodges
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
New York ◽  
Health Promotion ◽  
Information Dissemination ◽  
Cognitive Theory ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Health Priorities ◽  
Local Health ◽  
Local Public Health ◽  
Collegiate Baseball

The arrival of a new summer collegiate baseball league franchise to a small central New York city was seen as an opportunity for health promotion. The initiative was set up to explore two overarching questions: (1) Are summer collegiate baseball events acceptable to local public health organizations as viable places for health promotion activities addressing local health issues? (2) Are summer collegiate baseball organizations amenable to health promotion activities built in to their fan and/or player experiences? Planning and implementation were guided by precede–proceed, social cognitive theory, social marketing, and diffusion of innovations constructs. Environmental changes were implemented to support healthy eating and nontobacco use by players and fans; four health awareness nights were implemented at home games corresponding to local public health priorities and included public service announcements, between inning quizzes, information dissemination at concession and team market locations, and special guests. Sales and fan feedback support mostly healthy concession offerings and a tobacco-free ballpark; postseason evaluations from team staff and public health partners support continuing the trials of this sports event as a venue for health promotion.

scholarly journals Assessing Communicative Effectiveness of Public Health Information in Chinese: Developing Automatic Decision Aids for International Health Professionals

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (19) ◽  
pp. 10329
Author(s):  
Meng Ji ◽  
Adams Bodomo ◽  
Wenxiu Xie ◽  
Riliu Huang
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Communication ◽  
Health Information ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
World Health ◽  
Svm Classifier ◽  
Local Health ◽  
Automatic Assessment ◽  
Public Health Information ◽  
Readability Formula

Effective multilingual communication of authoritative health information plays an important role in helping to reduce health disparities and inequalities in developed and developing countries. Health information communication from the World Health Organization is governed by key principles including health information relevance, credibility, understandability, actionability, accessibility. Multilingual health information developed under these principles provide valuable benchmarks to assess the quality of health resources developed by local health authorities. In this paper, we developed machine learning classifiers for health professionals with or without Chinese proficiency to assess public-oriented health information in Chinese based on the definition of effective health communication by the WHO. We compared our optimized classifier (SVM_F5) with the state-of-art Chinese readability classifier (Chinese Readability Index Explorer CRIE 3.0), and classifiers adapted from established English readability formula, Gunning Fog Index, Automated Readability Index. Our optimized classifier achieved statistically significant higher area under the receiver operator curve (AUC of ROC), accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity than those of SVM using CRIE 3.0 features and SVM using linguistic features of Gunning Fog Index and Automated Readability Index (ARI). The statistically improved performance of our optimized classifier compared to that of SVM classifiers adapted from popular readability formula suggests that evaluation of health communication effectiveness as defined by the principles of the WHO is more complex than information readability assessment. Our SVM classifier validated on health information covering diverse topics (environmental health, infectious diseases, pregnancy, maternity care, non-communicable diseases, tobacco control) can aid effectively in the automatic assessment of original, translated Chinese public health information of whether they satisfy or not the current international standard of effective health communication as set by the WHO.

A Toolkit to Assess Medical Reserve Corps Units' Performance

2010 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 213-219 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elena Savoia ◽  
Sarah Massin-Short ◽  
Melissa Ann Higdon ◽  
Lindsay Tallon ◽  
Emmanuel Matechi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Factor Analysis ◽  
The United States ◽  
Local Health ◽  
Health Departments ◽  
Local Health Departments ◽  
Validity And Reliability ◽  
National Network ◽  
Medical Reserve Corps ◽  
Survey Instruments

ABSTRACTObjectives: The Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) is a national network of community-based units created to promote the local identification, recruitment, training, and activation of volunteers to assist local health departments in public health activities. This study aimed to develop a toolkit for MRC coordinators to assess and monitor volunteer units' performance and identify barriers limiting volunteerism.Methods: In 2008 and 2009, MRC volunteers asked to participate in influenza clinics were surveyed in 7 different locations throughout the United States. Two survey instruments were used to assess the performance of the volunteers who were able to participate, the specific barriers that prevented some volunteers from participating, and the overall attitudes of those who participated and those who did not. Validity and reliability of the instruments were assessed through the use of factor analysis and Cronbach's alpha.Results: Two survey instruments were developed: the Volunteer Self-Assessment Questionnaire and the Barriers to Volunteering Questionnaire. Data were collected from a total of 1059 subjects, 758 participated in the influenza clinics and 301 were unable to attend. Data from the 2 instruments were determined to be suitable for factor analysis. Factor solutions and inter-item correlations supported the hypothesized domain structure for both survey questionnaires. Results on volunteers' performance were consistent with observations of both local health departments' staff and external observers.Conclusions: The survey instruments developed for this study appear to be valid and reliable means to assess the performance and attitudes of MRC volunteers and barriers to their participation. This study found these instruments to have face and content validity and practicality. MRC coordinators can use these questionnaires to monitor their ability to engage volunteers in public health activities.(Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2010;4:213-219)

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document