Evidence map›Paper›PMID 26246254›Full record

ArticleBMC public health2015

How to characterize the public health workforce based on essential public health operations? environmental public health workers in the Netherlands as an example.

M Jambroes, R van Honschooten, J Doosje, K Stronks, M L Essink-Bot

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC public health, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

M JambroesDepartment of Public Health, J2-216, Academic Medical Center/University of Amsterdam, PO Box 22660, 1100 DD, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. m.jambroes@amc.nl.
R van HonschootenDepartment of Public Health, J2-216, Academic Medical Center/University of Amsterdam, PO Box 22660, 1100 DD, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. imrens@hotmail.com.
J DoosjeNational Association of Public Health Services (GGDGHOR-Nederland),, Zwarte Woud 2, 3524 SJ, Utrecht, The Netherlands. jdoosje@ggdghor.nl.
K StronksDepartment of Public Health, J2-216, Academic Medical Center/University of Amsterdam, PO Box 22660, 1100 DD, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. k.stronks@amc.nl.
M L Essink-BotDepartment of Public Health, J2-216, Academic Medical Center/University of Amsterdam, PO Box 22660, 1100 DD, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. m.l.essink-bot@amc.nl.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundPublic health workforce planning and policy development require adequate data on the public health workforce and the services provided. If existing data sources do not contain the necessary information, or apply to part of the workforce only, primary data collection is required. The aim of this study was to develop a strategy to enumerate and characterize the public health workforce and the provision of essential public health operations (EPHOs), and apply this to the environmental public health workforce in the Netherlands as an example.

methodsWe specified WHO's EPHOs for environmental public health and developed an online questionnaire to assess individual involvement in these. Recruitment was a two-layered process. Through organisations with potential involvement in environmental public health, we invited environmental public health workers (n = 472) to participate in a national survey. Existing benchmark data and a group of national environmental public health experts provided opportunities for partial validity checks.

resultsThe questionnaire was well accepted and available benchmark data on physicians supported the results of this study regarding the medical part of the workforce. Experts on environmental public health recognized the present results on the provision of EPHOs as a reasonable reflection of the actual situation in practice. All EPHOs were provided by an experienced, highly educated and multidisciplinary workforce. 27 % of the total full-time equivalents (FTEs) was spent on EPHO 'assuring governance for health'. Only 4 % was spent on 'health protection'. The total FTEs were estimated as 0.66 /100,000 inhabitants.

conclusionsCharacterisation of the public health workforce is feasible by identification of relevant organisations and individual workers on the basis of EPHOs, and obtaining information from those individuals by questionnaire. Critical factors include the operationalization of the EPHOS into the field of study, the selection and recruitment of eligible organisations and the response rate within organisations.. When existing professional registries are incomplete or do not exist, this strategy may provide a start to enumerate the quantity and quality of the public health within or across countries.

Indexed as

Environmental HealthEnvironmental MonitoringHealth PersonnelHumansNetherlandsPublic HealthPublic Sector

Identifiers

PMID26246254
PMCPMC4527300

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