Role
Principal Investigator
Description
We aim to characterise the competencies [knowledge, skills, attributes] required by public health graduates to effectively contribute to the workforce and meet existing and emergent public health needs. ● Identify and synthesise competencies required by public health graduates to address current and future public health requirements. ● Develop a preliminary framework mapping graduate competencies that may allow them to contribute to Australia's public health workforce effectively. ● Establish validity and conduct a formative evaluation of a national competency framework for public health graduates. This programme of work will be conducted over three phases. A co-design approach incorporating qualitative and quantitative methods will address the overall aim and objectives. Phase 1: Interviews: 3-4 months (aim end July 2024) Phase 2: Competency extraction: 3-4 months (aim: end November 2024) <summer break> Phase 3: Modified Delphi: 4-5 months (aim: end June 2025) NB: Timelines estimates based on the plan outlined below, accounting for iterative feedback from the CAPHIA community and governance decision making as well as summer break shutdown Dec 2-24 – January 2025. Phase 1: Semi-structured interviews with public health industry experts will be conducted. Experts will include public health professionals, educators and academics, professional associations, employers working within public health organisations, government agencies, healthcare providers, and non-governmental community organisations within the field. Across all participant groups, semi-structured interviews will allow in-depth descriptions and open-ended discussions regarding the competencies required by public health graduates to effectively contribute to the workforce and meet existing and emergent public health needs. [Phase 1 - Output – Comprehensive list of contemporary skills and knowledge required by public health graduate vis a vis the perceptions of multiple stakeholders]. Phase 2: This phase will extract competencies from existing health and public health competency frameworks. A search strategy will be developed to identify relevant frameworks. A global search will then be conducted. Following extraction, a framework synthesis will guide the analysis and triangulation of the interview data and new data derived from the existing public health-related competency frameworks. Once an association between themes is determined, public health graduates' skills, knowledge and attributes will be grouped under overarching competency domains. These domains will form the preliminary framework, including individual competencies and competency descriptors. [Phase 2 – Output – A preliminary competency framework - a synthesis of new and existing competencies relevant to the public health workforce [including graduates] in 2024] Phase 3: A modified Delphi technique will be used as an accepted method of building consensus among public health experts regarding the acceptability and applicability of the preliminary competency framework. The Delphi process will involve i) recruitment and consenting of participants to the Delphi panel and ii) two rounds of consultation on the proposed competency framework. Finally, a formative framework evaluation will be conducted via focus groups with public health experts. As part of this final step, the utility of the competency framework as a contemporary best practice public health competency framework for Australasia will be assessed. [Phase 3 – Output – A validated competency framework that characterises the knowledge, skills, and application public health graduates will need to contribute effectively to the workforce and meet existing and emergent public health needs].
Date
N/A
Project Type
N/A
Keywords
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Funding Body
.au Domain Administration Limited (auDA Foundation)
Amount
70
Project Team
N/A