Training

Date: June 30th 2021

Subject Matter Experts:  
Helen de Pinho, MBBCh, FCCH (Public Health), MBA
Assistant Professor at Columbia University, Mailman School of Public Health, and Associate Director of the Averting Maternal Death and Disability Program (AMDD) at Columbia University

&

Sylvia Pirani, MPH, MS
Public Health Practice Consultant

---

The Strategic Skills Training Series developed by the Region 2 PHTC aims to help prepare public health leaders and the public health workforce to develop the practices and competencies associated with being a Chief Health Strategist.

Using a scenario focused on the opioid problem in the fictitious ‘Tycho County’, this course will describe how the ‘Policy Analysis’ stage of the CDC policy process can be implemented by a health department using systems thinking tools and approaches.

Recommended Pre-Requisites:

1. An Overview of the Policy Process in Public Health and the Need for Systems Thinking
2. Problem Identification in the Policy Process and How Systems Thinking Fits In

Participants will be able to:

1. Define Stage Two of the CDC policy process i.e. Policy Analysis
2. List types of evidence that can be reviewed as part of the policy analysis phase
3. Assess feasibility of available policy options via framing questions and rubrics
4. Identify and define key variables in a complex public health issue
5. Sketch and interpret a simple systems map/ causal loop diagram
6. Define and identify leverage points in a system and assess their potential impact on the system
7. Discuss the importance of systems modeling and explore how systems models can be used to ask and answer policy-relevant questions