on Facebook
on Twitter
on YouTube
Document Information
Organizing State and Local Health Departments for Public Health Preparedness
Improving the ability to respond to bioterrorism and other emergencies is an important challenge facing the U.S. public health system. Despite having a knowledgeable workforce, practice and experience, capacity, and partnerships with other responders in the community, the system’s ability to respond may depend largely on its structure. This study examines a key question: Are state and local public health agencies related to one another in a way that facilitates emergency response?
Specific objectives of this study are to explain the factors influencing the particular ways in which state and local public health systems are organized, how the various types of relationships that exist between state and local public health departments have been arrived at, and, most important, the consequences of such structures and relationships for emergency preparedness. We also examine alternative structures from several different types of service industries (public education, banking, the welfare system, and port authorities). Finally, we recommend concrete strategies to improve public health preparedness.
This report will be of interest to policymakers and to public health professionals at the state and local levels who are involved in bioterrorism response and emergency preparedness, as well as to other agencies involved in emergency response.
See Also:
Related ReportRelated ReportRelated ReportRelated Report
Free, downloadable PDF file(s) are available below.
RAND makes an electronic version of this document available for free as a public service.
Use Adobe Acrobat Reader version 7.0 or higher for the best experience.
Contents
Chapter One:
Introduction
Chapter Two:
Analytic Approach
Chapter Three:
Results
Chapter Four:
Summary and Conclusions
Appendix A:
CDC Progress Report Indicators (2004)
Appendix B:
Public Health Laboratories’ Survey Questions Used in Analysis
Appendix C:
Robust Regression with Centralization-Regionalization Interactions
The research described in this report was prepared for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. This research was produced within the RAND Health Center for Domestic and International Health Security. RAND Health is a division of the RAND Corporation.
This product is part of the RAND Corporation technical report series. RAND technical reports may include research findings on a specific topic that is limited in scope or intended for a narrow audience; present discussions of the methodology employed in research; provide literature reviews, survey instruments, modeling exercises, guidelines for practitioners and research professionals, and supporting documentation; or deliver preliminary findings. All RAND reports undergo rigorous peer review to ensure that they meet high standards for research quality and objectivity.
Permission is given to duplicate this electronic document for personal use only, as long as it is unaltered and complete. Copies may not be duplicated for commercial purposes. Unauthorized posting of RAND PDFs to a non-RAND Web site is prohibited. RAND PDFs are protected under copyright law. For information on reprint and linking permissions, please visit the RAND Permissions page.
The RAND Corporation is a nonprofit research organization providing objective analysis and effective solutions that address the challenges facing the public and private sectors around the world. RAND's publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors.
* RAND research is conducted across divisions, centers, and projects; these organizational components are represented in the "Related RAND Divisions" section above.
Top
RAND® is a registered trademark. Copyright © 1994-2009 RAND Corporation. Last Modified: December 11, 2007 