Developing a health information (HI) training programme: strengthening the public health workforce

Background New developments and technologies require skilled professionals to manage and use public health information in most efficient ways. However, currently training in specific fields is lacking and large inequalities exist in Europe in terms of the availability and training of qualified professionals. Methods In order to set up a sustainable EU HI training program for HI professionals, core modules need to be selected to provide adequate training across Europe. This study a scoping review and is doing a survey on current existing HI programmes and aimes to identify the main educational components needed to train HI professionals. The databases of Pubmed and Ebsco were searched for the scoping review. The survey is being circulated to representatives of InfAct in 28 countries. Based on the results a baseline HI training programme for practicing public health professionals will be proposed. Results Initial search identified 249 papers. After the exclusion of duplicates and unavailable documents, 53 papers were selected for review. Only 5 papers were found related to the European context. However the results from other papers could be extrapolated. The results were organised in 3 domains: organisation, people and technology dimensions. The development of HI capacities is often done through multiple and sequential interventions, which are adapted to the needs, conditions and resources available within each HIS. Thus, the importance of aligning training with working processes and usability in professional practice is key. This can be challenging, as HI functions are diverse across Europe. The results of the survey will be presented when processed by the time of the workshop. Conclusions There is a need for qualified skilled professionals in HI taking into account a changing global environment. Most of HI capacity building programmes are yet to reach maturity, and this review and survey identify a set of important areas for further development of the HI training programme.