Practical competencies for public health education: a global analysis

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Health Workforce Development

Background:

• Existing public health competency frameworks are essential for defining and assessing professional skills.
• The World Federation of Public Health Associations' Global Charter for the Public's Health provides a benchmark for essential public health services and functions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To quantify the alignment between existing public health competency frameworks and the elements of the Global Charter for the Public's Health.
• To identify any gaps or overlaps in competencies covered by current frameworks compared to the Charter.

Main Methods:

• A desktop analysis of eight publicly available public health competency frameworks was performed.
• Competency statements were mapped against the core public health services (Protection, Promotion, Prevention) and enabling functions (Information, Governance, Capacity, Advocacy) of the Global Charter.
• The coverage of the Charter's elements within each framework was quantified.

Main Results:

• All analyzed public health competency frameworks covered every element of the Global Charter.
• Frameworks demonstrated variability in coverage and focus.
• Some frameworks included competencies not explicitly mentioned in the Charter, such as cultural safety, human rights, and systems thinking.

Conclusions:

• The Global Charter serves as a valuable tool for comparing public health competency sets.
• It can inform the design and redesign of public health curricula and competency frameworks.
• The Charter aids in planning and monitoring public health workforce needs.