Document Type

Capstone Experience

Graduation Date

5-2019

Degree Name

Master of Public Health

Department

Health Promotion

First Committee Member

Dr. Brandon Grimm

Second Committee Member

Dr. David Palm

Third Committee Member

Dr. Paul Estabrooks

Abstract

Improving the skills and competencies of the Central District Health Department’s (CDHD) workforce is essential in assuring the public’s health. However, to develop the desired skills and competencies of the workforce requires effective training programs. CDHD provides professional development funds to all staff to attend workforce development opportunities that can be used on specific training relevant to their position. Approved trainings at CDHD, however, are not evaluated for effectiveness. This capstone project aimed to develop evaluation tools to help determine the effectiveness of training programs at the CDHD. Kirkpatrick’s Four Levels of Training Evaluation (2016) was used to help build the project’s evaluation tools, and the Psychology of Change was the training program chosen to evaluate for this project. The purpose of the Psychology of Change training was to prepare staff to move forward with the public health accreditation process. A total of eight staff members participated in the capstone project (Table 1), two performance management staff and six environmental health staff. The characteristics of the sample included 50 percent women, 13 percent minority population, and an average of 7.6 years of public health experience per staff member. Content analysis was obtained by qualitative methods, including written responses on a survey and through a focus group discussion.

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