scholarly journals Florida Department of Health Workers’ Response to 2004 Hurricanes: A Qualitative Analysis

2013 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 153-159 ◽  
Author(s):  
Holly B. Herberman Mash ◽  
Carol S. Fullerton ◽  
Kathleen Kowalski-Trakofler ◽  
Dori B. Reissman ◽  
Ted Scharf ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Qualitative Analysis ◽  
Emergency Care ◽  
Work Performance ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Public Health Preparedness ◽  
Department Of Health ◽  
Florida Department ◽  
Public Health Workers

AbstractObjectiveExaminations of the demands on public health workers after disaster exposure have been limited. Workers provide emergency care while simultaneously risking injury, damage to personal property, and threats to their own and their family's safety. We examined the disaster management experiences of 4323 Florida Department of Health workers 9 months after their response to 4 hurricanes and 1 tropical storm during a 7-week period in August and September of 2004.MethodsParticipants completed a self-report questionnaire focused on work performance, mental and physical health, daily functioning, sleep disturbance, physiological arousal, and injury and work demand at the time of the hurricanes, and answered open-ended questions that described their experiences in more detail.ResultsA qualitative analysis conducted from the write-in data yielded 4 domains: (1) work/life balance; (2) training for disaster response role; (3) workplace support; and (4) recovery.ConclusionsStudy findings highlighted a number of concerns that are important to public health workers who provide emergency care after a disaster and, in particular, multiple disasters such as during the 2004 hurricane season. The findings also yielded important recommendations for emergency public health preparedness. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2013;0:1–7)

Sleep and Arousal as Risk Factors for Adverse Health and Work Performance in Public Health Workers Involved in the 2004 Florida Hurricane Season

2010 ◽  
Vol 4 (S1) ◽  
pp. S55-S62 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jodi B.A. McKibben ◽  
Carol S. Fullerton ◽  
Robert J. Ursano ◽  
Dori B. Reissman ◽  
Kathleen Kowalski-Trakofler ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Mental Health ◽  
Physical Health ◽  
Sleep Disturbance ◽  
Work Performance ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Work Demand ◽  
Hurricane Season ◽  
Public Health Workers

ABSTRACTBackground: We examined the relation of sleep disturbance and arousal to work performance, mental and physical health, and day-to-day functioning in Florida Department of Health (FDOH) employees 9 months after the 2004 Florida hurricane season.Methods: FDOH employees were contacted via e-mail 9 months after the 2004 hurricanes. Participants (N = 2249) completed electronic questionnaires including measures of sleep disturbance, arousal, work performance, physical health, mental health, day-to-day function, hurricane injury, and work demand.Results: More than 18% of FDOH employees reported ≥25% reduced work performance and 11% to 15.3% reported ≥7 “bad” mental or physical health days in the past month. Sleep disturbance and elevated arousal were strongly associated with impaired work performance (odds ratios [ORs] 3.33 and 3.34, respectively), “bad” mental health (ORs 3.01 and 3.64), “bad” physical health (ORs 3.21 and 2.01), and limited day-to-day function (ORs 4.71 and 2.32), even after adjusting for sex, race, age, education, and marital status.Conclusions: Among public health workers exposed to the 2004 hurricanes, sleep disturbance and arousal were associated with personal and work impairment. Future research should continue to examine the effect of repeated exposure to disasters in first responders.(Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2010;4:S55-S62)

Florida Department of Health Workers' Response to 2004 Hurricanes Exposure: A Qualitative Analysis

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Holly H. Mash ◽  
Carol S. Fullerton ◽  
Kathleen Kowalski-Trakofler ◽  
Dori B. Reissman ◽  
Ted Scharf ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Analysis ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Department Of Health ◽  
Florida Department

Leadership, collaboration, and effective training principles and practices from a decade of training by a center for public health preparedness

2014 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 31 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Michael Reid, PhD, MBA ◽  
Lisa M. Brown, PhD ◽  
Danielle C. Landis, PhD, MPH
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Public Health Workforce ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Public Health Preparedness ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
Incident Command ◽  
Department Of Health ◽  
Training Principles ◽  
Florida Department ◽  
Judgment Process

Objective: To review a decade's experience of a Centers for Disease Control and Preparedness (CDC) funded Center for Public Health Preparedness (hereafter referred to as the Center) and to identify interventions that led to surmounting serious obstacles to achieving the Center's CDC-mandated goals and objectives. The Center's purpose was to train the public health workforce to protect the population from bioterrorism, infectious diseases, and emerging public health threats. Design: This case study used the concepts of the judgment process as developed by Noel Tichy and Warren Bennis to describe the experiences and actions of the Center's leaders. Center staff used public health principles of collaboration, the use of relevant science, and professional training principles in developing and delivering training in epidemiology, behavioral health, crisis leadership, and other fields through distance learning and on-site methods.Setting: The study's primary focus was on training in Florida, although the program's reach was national and international.Participants: Preparedness training was provided to approximately 10,000 public health officials, primarily drawn from Florida.Main outcome measure(s): This is a descriptive study of the Center's activities. The interventions were the steps taken by Center leadership to accomplish the federal and state goals of the program, despite meeting major challenges. The outcome measures were degrees of success, as measured by federal and state officials and other indicators, in delivering high quality training that met CDC and state goals.Results: The Center delivered trainings in fields determined to be needed in Florida and nationally. Participant and observer evaluations were strongly positive. Nationally published papers and presentations contributed to the training evidence base. The Florida Department of Health incorporated the trainings into Florida's mandatory training for Incident Command strike teams. The leaders of the Center and the Florida Department of Health developed a formal statement of principles to guide the training. These could be useful to other training organizations. Conclusions: The study illustrates the value of the Tichy and Bennis judgment process framework to describe actions of the Center leadership's successful effort to overcome system obstacles and provide high quality training to public health workers. The framework can be used by leaders in other organizations to increase their ability to make good judgments.

scholarly journals Working conditions and health status of 6,317 front line public health workers across five provinces in China during the COVID-19 epidemic: a cross-sectional study

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jinghua Li ◽  
Jingdong Xu ◽  
Huan Zhou ◽  
Hua You ◽  
Xiaohui Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Status ◽  
Health Outcomes ◽  
Working Conditions ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Front Line ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Self Rated Health ◽  
Public Health Workers

ABSTRACT Background Public health workers at the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC) and primary health care institutes (PHIs) were among the main workers who implemented prevention, control, and containment measures. However, their efforts and health status have not been well documented. We aimed to investigate the working conditions and health status of front line public health workers in China during the COVID-19 epidemic. Methods Between 18 February and 1 March 2020, we conducted an online cross-sectional survey of 2,313 CDC workers and 4,004 PHI workers in five provinces across China experiencing different scales of COVID-19 epidemic. We surveyed all participants about their work conditions, roles, burdens, perceptions, mental health, and self-rated health using a self-constructed questionnaire and standardised measurements (i.e., Patient Health Questionnaire and General Anxiety Disorder scale). To examine the independent associations between working conditions and health outcomes, we used multivariate regression models controlling for potential confounders. Results The prevalence of depression, anxiety, and poor self-rated health was 21.3, 19.0, and 9.8%, respectively, among public health workers (27.1, 20.6, and 15.0% among CDC workers and 17.5, 17.9, and 6.8% among PHI workers). The majority (71.6%) made immense efforts in both field and non-field work. Nearly 20.0% have worked all night for more than 3 days, and 45.3% had worked throughout the Chinese New Year holiday. Three risk factors and two protective factors were found to be independently associated with all three health outcomes in our final multivariate models: working all night for >3 days (multivariate odds ratio [ORm]=1.67~1.75, p<0.001), concerns about infection at work (ORm=1.46~1.89, p<0.001), perceived troubles at work (ORm=1.10~1.28, p<0.001), initiating COVID-19 prevention work after January 23 (ORm=0.78~0.82, p=0.002~0.008), and ability to persist for > 1 month at the current work intensity (ORm=0.44~0.55, p<0.001). Conclusions Chinese public health workers made immense efforts and personal sacrifices to control the COVID-19 epidemic and faced the risk of mental health problems. Efforts are needed to improve the working conditions and health status of public health workers and thus maintain their morale and effectiveness during the fight against COVID-19.

E‐learning cultural competence for public health workers: A feasibility and pilot study

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Duckhee Chae ◽  
Yunekyong Kim ◽  
Jeeheon Ryu ◽  
Keiko Asami ◽  
Jaseon Kim ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Pilot Study ◽  
Cultural Competence ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
E Learning ◽  
Public Health Workers
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