Document Type

Capstone Experience

Graduation Date

5-2021

Degree Name

Master of Public Health

Department

Health Promotion

First Committee Member

Dr. Abbie Raikes

Second Committee Member

Denise Pecha

Third Committee Member

Dr. Chad Abresch

Fourth Committee Member

Dr. Shannon Maloney

Abstract

Workforce assessments provide an opportunity to assess, evaluate, and identify the needs of a particular workforce. The use of workforce assessments in the field of maternal and child health (MCH) has been an ongoing and a strongly supported effort by the Health Resources & Services Administration: Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB). The maternal and child health workforce is responsible for providing essential public health services to some of the most vulnerable populations such as mothers, children, and people living with disabilities. Thus, the continuation of providing these essential public health services is critical – even in the midst of a pandemic.

CityMatCH, with the support of the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB), has created an online assessment to measure the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the maternal and child health (MCH) workforce. This partnership has yielded multiple workforce assessments over the years to identify, assess, and support the MCH workforce. The purpose of the 2020 online workforce assessment was to support and increase capacity of urban public health departments and MCH leaders in monitoring and responding to current and emerging public health issues and threats, specifically COVID-19 and service provision. This assessment is in alignment with project year one in a five-year cooperative agreement awarded to CityMatCH by MCHB.

The online survey was developed and reviewed by CityMatCH staff and federal partners, and was used for program assessment and evaluation purposes. In total, the online survey was 18 questions, comprised of both closed and open-ended questions, and was analyzed through the survey collection system RedCAP and Microsoft Excel. State and local public health department representatives from across the country were surveyed. My contributions to the 2020 workforce assessment included data cleaning, analysis, and reporting. In addition to the data analysis, I was able to utilize my skills in written communication to provide CityMatCH with a written report and a summation of the assessment results to share with our federal partner, MCHB, to inform strategies to strengthen the capacity of the maternal and child health workforce.

This workforce assessment helped us gain an understanding of on-the-ground experiences of local and state public health departments during the pandemic and provided us with further understanding of the impacts of COVID-19 on the MCH workforce. Results from the assessment shed light on the challenges of delivering MCH services virtually, the impact it had on the MCH staff as they were reassigned from their regular MCH duties to COVID-19 duties, and the concerns for future MCH outcomes due to the pandemic.

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