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Creating and validating practical measures for assessing public health practices in local communities
C A Miller1, T B Richards, G M Christenson
1Department of Maternal and Child Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill 27599, USA.
American Journal of Preventive Medicine
|November 1, 1995
Summary
A new surveillance system effectively measures local public health performance using core functions and practices. This validated tool enables reliable monitoring of public health delivery and outcomes.
Area of Science:
- Public Health
- Health Services Research
- Health Policy
Background:
- Developing a robust public health surveillance system is crucial for measuring performance.
- The Institute of Medicine's framework of core functions and practices provides a basis for performance assessment.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and test a surveillance system for measuring local public health performance.
- To validate the utility of core functions and practices in assessing public health delivery.
Main Methods:
- A surveillance protocol was designed using local public health jurisdictions as units of study.
- 84 performance indicators were selected and linked to 10 defined public health practices.
- A shortened 26-indicator protocol was validated against the full version and shown to correlate reliably.
Main Results:
- The system generated scores for performance adequacy, local health department contribution, and identification of other providers.
- A 26-indicator version reliably correlated with the 84-indicator protocol for overall and functional performance.
- A subset of four indicators reliably predicted the overall performance score.
Conclusions:
- Public health practice can be effectively defined, measured, and monitored.
- Existing definitions of core functions and practices are useful for performance measurement.
- Validated measurement and surveillance tools for public health functions and practices are available.