Supported with a first-of-its-kind joint $4.7 million cooperative agreement from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), six U.S. universities have come together to conduct robust public health workforce research, evaluation and analysis:
- University of Minnesota
- Johns Hopkins University
- Columbia University
- Indiana University at IUPUI
- University of Washington
- East Tennessee State University
The unique collaboration is called the Consortium for Workforce Research in Public Health (CWORPH). Led by the Center for Public Health Systems at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health (SPH), CWORPH’s research will look at what drives turnover, ways to recruit and retain staff and how to fill workforce gaps. The consortium also includes several national practice-oriented partners, such as the National Association of County and City Health Officials, Public Health Training Centers, and the de Beaumont Foundation, who will help identify chronic and acute public health needs so CWORPH can investigate them and deliver answers back to the community (see CWORPH organizational model).
Each of the six consortium members has a deep and longstanding commitment to the mission of public health and the sustainable development of its workforce, including increasing diverse public health staff that represents the communities they serve; public health staff retention; efficient public health workforce systems and processes; and capabilities to implement public health advances.
On the ground with its practice-oriented partners, the consortium’s work will include quantitative and qualitative research to better understand public health workforce needs; large-scale survey data collection and analysis; economic analysis to understand options for resource allocation; and health equity research with a focus on the needs of racial, ethnic minority and rural communities.
CWORPH members and faculty leads are:
University of Minnesota School of Public Health, JP Leider and Janette Dill; Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Beth Resnick; Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, Heather Krasna; Indiana University Fairbanks School of Public Health, Valerie Yeager; University of Washington School of Public Health, Betty Bekemeier; and East Tennessee State University College of Public Health, Michael Meit.
More information is available at the CWORPH website, including how to stay connected to CWORPH and partner around its work on public health workforce research and evaluation.