A Review of Public Health Training Needs Assessment Approaches: Opportunities to Move Forward

Assessing training needs of the public health workforce is crucial for creating professional development opportunities to improve knowledge, competence, and effectiveness of this workforce.

Regional Public Health Training Centers (RPHTCs) assess workforce training needs and deliver training based on identified needs. To determine training priorities, several needs assessment surveys have been administered by RPHTCs and national public health member organizations.

This study identified the types of training questions being asked to public health practitioners in the various assessment surveys implemented by RPHTCs and national membership organizations. Although the surveys measured similar overarching constructs, multiple approaches with limited consistency were used to measure training needs.

Although successful in responding to the needs of their targeted constituents, the limited consistency among survey types makes generalization of findings difficult. Disseminating common metrics and aggregate survey findings would increase efficiency in determining workforce training needs and developing targeted training.