Strategic Skills Collaborative

  • 1.  PHLE: Course 1 Discussion Board

    Posted 15 days ago

    Hi PHLE Participants!

    Many of us are spending time right now thinking about systems and strategic thinking in public health, which is also the strategic skill focus for April in the virtual community. This includes looking more closely at how policies, structures, and long‑standing practices shape the issues we work on every day.

    In Course 1 of Public Health Leadership Essentials, one idea that is emphasized early on is slowing down before jumping to solutions. Rather than moving straight to programs or interventions, we are being asked to step back and ask questions like:

    • What systems are influencing this issue?
    • What assumptions are built into how we define the problem?
    • What feels fixed, but may actually be shaped by policy, funding, or structure?

    For those of you participating in PHLE right now, I would love to hear:

    Has anything in the first module helped you see a familiar public health issue differently, even in a small way? This could relate to funding, data, partnerships, workforce, policy, or community engagement.

    Looking forward to your thoughts! Remember: short reflections or bullet points are absolutely welcome



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    Sabine Jamal
    Cornell University
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  • 2.  RE: PHLE: Course 1 Discussion Board

    Posted 15 days ago

    At the moment, nothing has stood out, but the diagram for collective impact is really interesting. We've tried to implement that framework in the past for a grant and took away a lot of the high level practices for engagement, but did not get much further than that. This model is very detailed and helpful to think about all the other inputs and factors that can lead to sustained impact. I'm excited to learn more about that and application. 

    I think the difficult hurdle at the moment is with all the federal changes, cuts, funding sweeps or clawbacked dollars, it is difficult to project and plan systems wide change. We have shifted or tried to shift to PH2.0 to PH3.0 but find ourselves with far less resources to do PH3.0. Anecdotally, how much institutional knowledge loss have we experienced to do PH2.0? 

    The silver lining is, there are a lot more folks being vocal about their values and engaged and hope to see this catalyst build a strong foundation of allies.



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    Sam Jarvis
    Community Health Manager
    Johnson County Public Health
    Iowa City IA
    (319)356-6040
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  • 3.  RE: PHLE: Course 1 Discussion Board

    Posted 9 days ago

    Thank you Sam! What you mention re funding cuts is really important context for us all to consider. There is one perspective which is that we will hopefully be in a more positive funding landscape soon enough but there is a skill in learning to do more with less! 

    Have you experienced institutional loss of knowledge between PH2.0 and 3.0? With 3.0 having been in place for almost 10 year now, I wonder if that is even something we can track large scale with so many public health events that have taken place since then. 



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    Sabine Jamal
    Cornell University
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  • 4.  RE: PHLE: Course 1 Discussion Board

    Posted 9 days ago

    I don't think our agency has necessarily lost knowledge or ground from 2.0 to 3.0 but would not that many of the negative policies that impact public health either prevent us from achieving or pursuing 3.0 and then as sanitation and communicable disease regulations and policies get relaxed or removed - we are certainly concerned we'll have to spend more time and dollars on those efforts (as we should) but detract from upstream work. 

    As we see more unique outbreaks, our team has gained a lot of knowledge and or experience, which is helpful, but I hope we don't lose our capacity or time to continue to address policy changes. 



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    Sam Jarvis
    Community Health Manager
    Johnson County Public Health
    Iowa City IA
    (319)356-6040
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  • 5.  RE: PHLE: Course 1 Discussion Board

    Posted 15 days ago

    This was my first attempt to look at a Public Health issue, and it was eye opening.  Coming from a more process focused environment, where cause and effect are obvious, this was intimidating.  I want to look at mental health and substance use issues, and there are dozens of structural and non-structural potential impacts.  I hope the framework makes it easier to analyze the situation and create "bite sized" areas for investigation and intervention.  This is very interesting and helpful. 



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    Pamela Kuehling
    Government Services Analyst
    City of St. Louis Department of Health
    Saint Louis MO
    (314)657-1564
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  • 6.  RE: PHLE: Course 1 Discussion Board

    Posted 9 days ago

    Thank you Pamela, I am glad it is useful! 



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    Sabine Jamal
    Cornell University
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  • 7.  RE: PHLE: Course 1 Discussion Board

    Posted 9 days ago

    The first module has really allowed me to reflect on the work I currently implement and where I would like to see it flourish. The CASCI model was very beneficial to visualize myself in. Building trust in all aspects of the work from partnerships to data is very important.



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    Jennifer Clarke-Lofters
    Milford Health Department
    Milford CT
    (203)701-4524
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  • 8.  RE: PHLE: Course 1 Discussion Board

    Posted 8 days ago
    Like so many things, regulations and funding significantly influence how we must prioritize our work and what we are able to accomplish. We are using these challenges as an opportunity to strengthen regional relationships and move toward shared services. This model not only helps us better manage scarce resources, but also provides greater depth and expands our collective knowledge base.

    .



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    Michele Wurl
    Deputy Administrator
    Moses Lake WA
    (509)403-0762
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  • 9.  RE: PHLE: Course 1 Discussion Board

    Posted 8 days ago
    Like so many things, regulations and funding significantly influence how we must prioritize our work and what we are able to accomplish. We are using these challenges as an opportunity to strengthen regional relationships and move toward shared services. This model not only helps us better manage scarce resources, but also provides greater depth and expands our collective knowledge base.


    ------------------------------
    Michele Wurl
    Deputy Administrator
    Moses Lake WA
    (509)403-0762
    ------------------------------