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Public Health Workforce Skill Gap Analysis: A Scoping Review

Nidhi Mittal, MS1, Stella T. Lartey, PhD, MPH1, Polina Durneva , PhD, MIS3, Michael Arthur Ofori, M Phil1 , Nichole Saulsberry-Scarboro, PhD1, Michelle Taylor, MD, DrPH, MPH2, Ashish Joshi, PhD, MBBS, MPH1.
 
Affiliation

  1. University of Memphis School of Public Health, Memphis, TN
  2. Shelby County Health Department, Memphis, TN
  3. University of Memphis, Fogelman College of Business & Economics, Memphis, TN

ABSTRACT

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic amplified this demand and further exposed the inadequacy in skills of our current workforce in dealing with a public health crisis of such a  magnitude. Yet there is paucity of information on skills gaps and competency required for upskilling of PHW. Thus, the aim of this research paper is to ascertain the skill deficiencies within the current public health workforce that would help in informing future training module design and implementation.

Methodology: A scoping review was conducted to map the public health job categories with the available evidence of gaps in key skills required for a successful job role. Research articles published between 2021 and 2024 were searched on PubMed Database. The articles which met the inclusion and exclusion criteria of the study were included in the review.

Result: Out of 122 articles found, 7 articles were included in the study. We found skills related to economic evaluation and communicating evidence to decision makers to be lacking in the PHW. The review further revealed the need for Continued Professional Development of health personnel and the necessity for such trainings to be conducted on-site.  Employers also needed education regarding  Community Health Workers’ (CHW) skills and the Medicare reimbursement of these workers.

Discussion and Conclusion: The literature recognizes the existence of public health workforce challenges that worsened during the COVID time and afterward. Training and development of public health employees in the identified skill gaps is the key strategy for building their competence.

Keywords: Public Health workforce, Gap Analysis, Competencies, COVID-19

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