Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38748479›Full record

ArticleHealth promotion and chronic disease prevention in Canada : research, policy and practice2024

Public health communication professional development opportunities and alignment with core competencies: an environmental scan and content analysis.

Melissa MacKay, Devon McAlpine, Heather Worte, Lauren E Grant, Andrew Papadopoulos, Jennifer E McWhirter

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Health promotion and chronic disease prevention in Canada : research, policy and practice, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
–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

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

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

5 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Review
  3. The Public Health Communication Competency Framework: Results from a multi-method and consensus-building process.Canadian journal of public health = Revue canadienne de sante publique · 2025
    Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
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

6 authors.

Melissa MacKayDepartment of Population Medicine, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada.
Devon McAlpineDepartment of Population Medicine, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada.
Heather WorteDepartment of Population Medicine, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada.
Lauren E GrantDepartment of Population Medicine, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada.
Andrew PapadopoulosDepartment of Population Medicine, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada.
Jennifer E McWhirterDepartment of Population Medicine, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionCommunication is vital for effective and precise public health practice. The limited formal educational opportunities in health communication render professional development opportunities especially important. Competencies for public health communication describe the integrated knowledge, values, skills and behaviours required for practitioner and organizational performance. Many countries consider communication a core public health competency and use communication competencies in workforce planning and development.

methodsWe conducted an environmental scan and content analysis to determine the availability of public health communication professional development opportunities in Canada and the extent to which they support communication-related core competencies. Three relevant competency frameworks were used to assess the degree to which professional development offerings supported communication competency development.

resultsOverall, 45 professional development offerings were included: 16 "formalized offerings" (training opportunities such as courses, webinars, certificate programs) and 29 "materials and tools" (resources such as toolkits, guidebooks). The formalized offerings addressed 25% to 100% of the communication competencies, and the materials and tools addressed 67% to 100%. Addressing misinformation and disinformation, using current technology and communicating with diverse populations are areas in need of improved professional development.

conclusionThere is a significant gap in public health communication formalized offerings in Canada and many of the materials and tools are outdated. Public health communication professional development offerings lack coordination and do not provide comprehensive coverage across the communication competencies, limiting their utility to strengthen the public health workforce. More, and more comprehensive, professional development offerings are needed.

Indexed as

Professional CompetenceCanadaCommunicationHealth CommunicationHumansPublic HealthStaff Developmentcommunicationcore competencies’ professional developmentworkforce planning

Identifiers

PMID38748479
PMCPMC11152188

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.