Historic, exciting, great, much-needed, long-overdue, contradictory and confusing. Some of the words to describe the new Massachusetts Institute for Local Public Health.
Continuing the work of the Local Health 2000 Commission, the Local Health Coordinating Council, early in its deliberations under the leadership of DPH Commissioner Howard Koh with DEP Commissioner David Struhs, recognized the importance and value of undertaking collaborative efforts toward advancing education and training for local public health leaders and practitioners. Thus, the Coordinating Council unanimously supported the creation of the Institute for Local Public Health, fulfilling one of the recommendations of the Health 2000 Commission.
Simply stated, the Massachusetts Institute for Local Public Health represents opportunity: an opportunity to increase the capacities and capabilities of local public health agencies throughout the Commonwealth through education and research. The Institute is an opportunity for state agencies and the public health graduate schools to respond to the leadership, professional and technical education needs of boards of health and health departments as they deliver the full range of public health services. The Institute is an opportunity to build-upon and assist existing training initiatives, such as our MAHB Training and Certification Program; to foster and facilitate educational efforts already being developed; and to seek and help organize new, additional education programs, especially in the area of public health leadership. The Institute will identify topics and coordinate resources for public health research, technical development and demonstration projects with a focus on local health practices and outcomes.
It is an ambitious agenda, but through collaboration, the Institute will attain its objectives. The Institute has already achieved some early successes in strengthening communications among the several public health associations and interests group. The Institute in turn has been advanced by the effectiveness of the inter-relationships between the Departments of Public Health and Environmental Protection and among various interest groups. And probably for the first time in recent times, the graduate schools and programs in public health (University of Massachusetts, Boston University, Harvard and Tufts) have come together with a new, serious interest in local public health practices.
The inaugural event sponsored by the Institute was held on December 16, 1998. Over 100 local, state, academic and association public health leaders gathered at the Massachusetts Medical Society headquarters to attend an Invitational Conference. The dean or a senior professor from each of the four schools spoke to the issues of community-based public health education and research and of the roles of community physicians in local health activities. Breakout sessions then offered an occasion for local public health leaders to describe their unmet needs and to seek ways by which the Institute for Local Public Health might begin to meet these needs. Judith Kurland, Regional Director of the Department of Health and Human Services, concluded the program with a strong statement of support for and commitment to the goals of the Institute. The Winter MAHB Quarterly will summarize the Conference proceedings.
The first-year priorities for the Institute are: 1) to categorize and publish information on current education and training programs available to local public health leaders and practitioners; 2) to assist and, as needed, to augment training programs offered by the Institute’s partnership organizations; 3) to facilitate board members, health officers and public health nurses in participating in their continuing education programs; 4) to develop resources for the establishment of public health leadership training programs; 5) to conduct at least two state-wide invitational conferences on critical local public health policy and practice issues; and 6) to encourage and support community-based local public health practices research.
Yes, it's historic, exciting and perhaps a little confusing. The Massachusetts Institute for Local Public Health, with the partnership support it has already received from all interests, will surely succeed in improving the infrastructure for local public health agencies. The success of the Institute will be judged by the levels to which the knowledge and skills of board members, health officers, public health nurses and the full range of the local public health voluntary and paid work force are raised.