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Understanding workforce demographics is important to ensure equitable recruitment, training, and retention. Previous studies have reported demographics of the environmental public health workforce; however, demographic data on professionals who conduct retail food regulatory duties are lacking. We conducted a workforce training needs assessment that examined demographic frequencies and associations between demographic factors and job levels. Findings indicate an educated workforce, and a high percentage of respondents self-reported that they were >40 years, White, and female. We also found, however, that female respondents were significantly less likely than male respondents to hold leadership positions, even when accounting for age, years of experience, and education. Our study also shows an underrepresentation of retail food regulatory professionals from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds. Future training should account for the need to fill experience gaps in the field when current employees retire. Additionally, there is a need to increase the recruitment of diverse professionals while supporting equitable retention and advancement in the field. Keywords: diversity, environmental public health, equity, leadership, retail food, workforce development, Introduction Environmental public health (EPH) professionals are responsible for ensuring that people are safe from environmental hazards such as disease vectors, potential contaminants in food and water, and exposure to [...]

Health education in nontraditional settings can supplement messages received in more traditional venues, such as schools and health care facilities, and can reach new populations. In 2007, the US National Park Service awarded one-time seed grants of $10000 or less to 16 parks in 16 states to fund the development of public health-focused programs for visitors. These programs used a wide variety of formats and addressed topics such as air pollution, prevention of vector-borne diseases, and promotion of physical activity in the parks. Almost 12000 visitors attended the programs in 2007. Most programs were supported by park management and were well received by visitors. National parks and similar settings may be underutilized resources for delivering health messages to the general population. (Am J Public Health. 2010;100:1370-1373. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2009.179622.)

Byline: Donna J. Petersen (1), Lorraine V. Klerman (1), Francis X. Mulvihill (1), Greg R. Alexander (1) Keywords: Agencies; administration; child health; curriculum; education; employment; maternal health; positions; survey; traineeship Abstract: Objectives: In 1995, the Association of Teachers of Maternal and Child Health (ATMCH) decided that information about the employment status of program graduates was essential to attempts to improve MCH curricula. Method: ATMCH requested information from 13 MCH programs in schools of public health funded by the federal Maternal and Child Health Bureau and 12 provided information about their master's degree graduates in the 1990-1994 period, including the year of graduation, degree, Bureau traineeship support, position held, and employing agency. Results: The total number of graduates was 742. Four programs averaged less than 8 graduates per year (small) six, 10--16 (midsize) and two more than 22 (large). More than 90% of graduates received a M.P.H. In the 10 programs that provided data on Bureau support, 46% received traineeship support from the Bureau. Midsize programs had the largest percentage of graduates receiving traineeship support. Overall, 45% of graduates were in administrative positions, 32% were involved in patient care, 20% were in policy-analytic positions, and 3% in other positions. Forty-seven percent of program graduates entered into or continued in community-based agencies, 18% in government agencies, 17% in academic or research agencies, and 18% in other agencies. Program size was significantly associated with both position and the agency in which the graduate was employed. Bureau traineeship support was associated with employing agency. Conclusions: The study suggests the need for changes in MCH curricula, enhanced education opportunities in specialty skill areas, and an ongoing survey of graduates of MCH programs. Author Affiliation: (1) Department of Maternal and Child Health, School of Public Health, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama Article History: Registration Date: 15/09/2004 Article note: A Project of the Association of Teachers of Maternal and Child Health.

Byline: Timothy Bartram, Pauline Stanton Human Resource Development (HRD) is critical to quality of service delivery and the cost-effectiveness in the public health sector. This paper explores the HRD function across the four main divisions within the sector - metropolitan health services, base hospitals, district hospitals and community health centres from the perspectives of Chief Executive Officers (CEOs), Human Resource Directors (HRDs) and General Functional Managers (GFMs). Findings suggest that the responses from the GFMs from the metropolitan hospitals and the base hospitals often contradict the views of the CEOs and HRDs concerning the sophistication of strategic HRD. Second, across the four divisions the responses of the three groups of managers indicate only moderate utilisation of strategic HRD, particularly in terms of strategic integration, staff participation in the planning of the learning and development system, measurement and monitoring systems of learning and development. Third, the three levels of managers indicate neutral to low responses, particularly from the GFMs concerning management training in equal employment opportunity and harassment. Implications are drawn for HR practitioners.