Abstract
Accredited health departments now cover 80% of the US population. A relatively modest proportion of these are small local health departments (LHDs), serving fewer than 50 000 people. Despite comprising more than half of all health departments, only 2% of small LHDs are accredited. This brief report is a qualitative inquiry into the enablers of accreditation for small LHDs. We interviewed health department and accreditation leaders from 9 accredited small local LHDs. Interviews were transcribed, verified, and coded by 2 coders. We found that dedicated funding, prework, clear expectations, and peer examples were strong enablers of accreditation for these groups. Additional resources specific to small LHDs may be necessary to expedite application processes and encourage greater uptake from this group.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 508-512 |
| Number of pages | 5 |
| Journal | Journal of Public Health Management and Practice |
| Volume | 27 |
| Issue number | 5 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Sep 2021 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Support for this article was provided in part by the Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The views and information contained in this article reflect the opinions of the authors and do not represent official PHAB board policy.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Lippincott Williams and Wilkins. All rights reserved.
Keywords
- facilitators
- local public health
- partnerships
- public health accreditation
- workforce development
PubMed: MeSH publication types
- Journal Article