Chelsey Kirkland (
Henry Stabler, University of Minnesota.
Health Aff (Millwood). 2024 Jun;43(6):822-830. doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.2024.00019.
Governmental public health agencies in the US are understaffed, and ongoing shortages will have a detrimental effect on their ability to provide basic public health services and protections. Public Health AmeriCorps was established in 2022 to support efforts to create a stronger and more diverse public health workforce nationwide. The Minnesota Public Health Corps, one of the largest Public Health AmeriCorps models, is a capacity-building program that places AmeriCorps members directly into governmental public health settings across the state. We used data from the first year of the Minnesota Public Health Corps (2022-23) to describe the experiences of thirty-five sites participating in the program. We also examined preliminary findings about how it shaped AmeriCorps members' skills and prospects related to career development in public health. Corps members were younger and more diverse than the current public health workforce in Minnesota, and the majority said that they intended to pursue a public health career. Host sites reported improved capacity to deliver public health services and indicated that corps members helped them reach new populations. Our evaluation demonstrates that this statewide program may be a scalable model to address parts of the acute capacity gaps at public health agencies, as well as long-term efforts to revitalize the workforce.
美国政府公共卫生机构人手不足，持续的短缺将对其提供基本公共卫生服务和保护的能力产生不利影响。公共卫生美国服务队于 2022 年成立，旨在支持全国范围内建立更强大、更多样化的公共卫生劳动力队伍的努力。明尼苏达州公共卫生队是最大的公共卫生美国服务队模式之一，是一个能力建设项目，将美国服务队成员直接安置在全州各地的政府公共卫生环境中。我们使用了明尼苏达州公共卫生队第一年（2022-23 年）的数据，描述了参与该计划的 35 个地点的经验。我们还研究了初步发现，即它如何塑造美国服务队成员与公共卫生职业发展相关的技能和前景。队员比明尼苏达州目前的公共卫生工作人员更年轻，更具多样性，大多数人表示他们打算从事公共卫生事业。接待地点报告说提供公共卫生服务的能力有所提高，并表示队员帮助他们接触到新的人群。我们的评估表明，这个全州范围的项目可能是解决公共卫生机构急性能力短缺部分以及重振劳动力的长期努力的可扩展模式。
