Healthy Homes Initiative: Developing Competencies January 22 – 23, 2004 Baltimore, MD CAPT Patrick O. Bohan, USPHS (Ret)

Why Are We in Business? Reduce morbidity and mortality due to injuries and environmentally related disease

Competency Definition “A cluster of related knowledge, skills, and attitudes that affects a major part of one’s job, that correlates with performance on the job, that can be measured against well- accepted standards, and that can be improved via training and development.”

CDC/APHA Cooperative Agreement  NEHA  AAS  NACCHO  NALBOH  ASTHO  APHL  NRHA  CSTE  NCLEHA  NAFP  ASPH  AEHAP

Core Competency Categories  Assessment  Management  Communication

Assessment  Information Gathering  Data Analysis and Interpretation  Evaluation

Management  Problem Solving  Economic and Political Issues  Organizational Knowledge and Behavior  Project Management

Management  Computer and Information Technology  Reporting, Documentation, and Record-Keeping  Collaboration

Communication  Educate  Communicate  Conflict Resolution  Marketing

Healthy Housing  Assumptions –At least two levels – professional and technician –Limited scope based on existing HUD documents –Ability to demonstrate results –Differences between rural and urban needs –Avoid duplication of efforts

Healthy Housing  Propose using a public health type of an approach to identifying competencies

Essential Services of Environmental Health  Could be used as a model to work through the competency identification process

Three Core Functions of Public Health  Assessment  Policy Development  Assurance

#1:Monitor health status or critical factors to identify healthy home problems  Standard: A system to collect and analyze relevant environmental, public health data, and critical factors  Competencies:  Define problem  Identify and evaluate data sources  Collect, summarize and interpret data  Assess and communicate risk

#2: Diagnose and investigate housing related health problems and conditions  Standard:  Comprehensive surveillance system  Protocols for immediate investigation/ response  Laboratory support  Competencies  Apply basic public health sciences  Analyze data  Articulate policy implications  Implement strategy  Communicate effectively

#3: Educate and empower people about healthy home issues  Standard Regular communication with the public, policy leaders and media on environmental health risk, status, and needs in the community  Competencies  Effectively communicate information in culturally appropriate language and settings  Human motivational skills

#4: Mobilize community to identify and solve healthy home problems  Standard  Existence of active strategy for constituency and partnership development  Competencies  Provide meaningful data  Community- building skills  Maintain linkages with key stakeholders  Use legal/political system to effect change

#5: Develop policies and plans that support healthy home efforts Standard  Healthy homes entity ensures effective delivery of services, adequate resources, community participation, proper exercise of legal authority Competencies  Problem identification  Evaluation of policy options  Development and implementation of laws, regulations, policies and programs

#6: Enforce laws/regulations that protect health and ensure safety Standard:  Capacity to review and evaluate the impact of laws and regulations on the community and improve the effectiveness of enforcement Competencies:  Program performance monitoring  Evaluation skills for individual and program effectiveness  Ability to use the legal and political system

#7: Link people to services; assure provision of healthy home services Standard: Capacity to assess adequacy of services, identify and address service gaps, and refer to existing services Competencies:  Knowledge of basic public health sciences  Assessment and evaluation  Communication  Knowledge of community systems/resour ce

#8: Assure a competent healthy home workforce Standard:  Existence of a defined workforce plan, including competencies, size, and composition, and ongoing staff and leadership development Competencies:  Public health sciences and core functions  Specific environmental health technical skills  Interpersonal skills  Desire for life-long learning

#9: Evaluate effectiveness and accessibility of services Standard:  Continual improvement through use of specific performance indicators, including community environmental and health data, and community satisfaction Competencies:  Ability to establish relevant indicators and analyze appropriate data  Evaluation  Community survey skills

#10: Research for new insights and innovative solutions Standard: the capacity to establish ongoing mutual relationships to strengthen appropriate scientific research and practice and develop a culture of innovation Competencies:  Communications  Basic research methods  Knowledge of public and private community organizations  Quality improvement skills

Healthy Housing Competencies  Systems approach to investigations  Relationship between housing conditions and health  Basic housing construction and codes  Occupancy standards  Germ theory  Chemical/physical factors of disease  Vectors and their signs  Sampling protocols