Department of International Health, Care and Public Health Research Institute (CAPHRI), University of Maastricht, 6229 GT Maastricht, The Netherlands.
Department of People and Health Studies, Fontys University of Applied Sciences, 5631 BN Eindhoven, The Netherlands.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023 Feb 24;20(5):4101. doi: 10.3390/ijerph20054101.
The public health workforce (PHW) counts a great variety of professionals, and how services are delivered differs in every country. The complexity and the diversity of PHW professions also reflect structural problems of supply and demand of PHW in various organizations and health care systems. Therefore, credentialing, regulation, and formal recognition are essential for a competent and responsive PHW to address public health challenges. To ensure comparability of the credentialing and regulation systems for the PHW and to enable its collective action at the macro level in the event of a health crisis, we systematically analyzed documented evidence on the PHW. A systematic review was selected to answer the research questions: (1) what are the most effective aspects and characteristics in identified programs (standards or activities) in professional credentialing and regulation of the PHW and (2) what are common evidence-based aspects and characteristics for the performance standards to support a qualified and competent PHW? The identification of professional credentialing systems and available practices of the PHW was performed systematically using a systematic review of international resources in the specialized literature published in English. The PRISMA framework was used to verify the reporting of combined findings from three databases: Google Scholar (GS), PubMed (PM), and Web of Science (WoS). The original search covered the period from 2000 until 2022. Out of 4839 citations based on the initial search, 71 publications were included in our review. Most of the studies were conducted in the US, UK, New Zealand, Canada, and Australia; one study was conducted in an international context for professional credentialing and regulation of the PHW. The review presents specific professional regulation and credentialing approaches without favoring one of the proposed methods. Our review was limited to articles focused on professional credentialing and regulation of the PHW in the specialized literature published in English and did not include a review of primary PHW development sources from international organizations. The process and requirements are unique processes displaying knowledge, competencies, and expertise, regardless of the field of practice. Continuous education, self-regulatory, and evidence-based approach can be seen as common characteristics for the performance standards on both community and national levels. Certification and regulation standards should be based on competencies that are currently used in practice. Therefore, answering questions about what criteria would be used, what is the process operation, what educational background the candidate should have, re-examination, and training are essential for a competent and responsive PHW and could stimulate the motivation of the PHW.
公共卫生劳动力（PHW）包括各种各样的专业人员，而且每个国家的服务提供方式也不同。PHW 专业人员的复杂性和多样性也反映了各种组织和医疗保健系统中 PHW 的供需结构性问题。因此，认证、监管和正式认可对于一支有能力和响应迅速的 PHW 队伍应对公共卫生挑战至关重要。为了确保 PHW 认证和监管系统的可比性，并在发生卫生危机时能够在宏观层面上进行集体行动，我们系统地分析了有关 PHW 的文件证据。选择系统评价来回答以下研究问题：（1）在已确定的 PHW 专业认证和监管计划（标准或活动）中，最有效的方面和特征是什么；（2）支持合格和有能力的 PHW 的绩效标准的共同循证方面和特征是什么？使用系统评价从英语专业文献中对国际资源进行了 PHW 专业认证系统和现有实践的系统识别。使用 PRISMA 框架验证了从三个数据库（Google Scholar（GS）、PubMed（PM）和 Web of Science（WoS））综合检索结果的报告。原始搜索涵盖了 2000 年至 2022 年期间。基于最初的搜索，有 4839 条引文，其中 71 篇出版物被纳入我们的综述。大多数研究在美国、英国、新西兰、加拿大和澳大利亚进行；一项研究在国际范围内针对 PHW 的专业认证和监管进行了研究。该综述介绍了具体的专业监管和认证方法，不偏袒其中一种建议方法。我们的综述仅限于专注于 PHW 专业认证和监管的英语专业文献中的文章，并未包括对国际组织主要 PHW 开发来源的综述。过程和要求是独特的过程，展示了知识、能力和专业知识，无论实践领域如何。在社区和国家层面，继续教育、自我监管和循证方法可以被视为绩效标准的共同特征。认证和监管标准应基于当前在实践中使用的能力。因此，回答关于将使用哪些标准、流程操作是什么、候选人应具备何种教育背景、重新考试和培训等问题对于一支有能力和响应迅速的 PHW 至关重要，并可能激发 PHW 的积极性。
