Category: Community Partnership Skills

The Swag Deficit: How and Why Public Health Sucks All The Fun Out of Everything

Course Objective

  • Understand primary gaps and weaknesses in how public health presents itself and engages communities
  • Define and discuss “swag deficit” at a barbeque or cocktail party
  • Identify ways to develop a swag surplus or make your public health organization swag neutral

Date: September 5, 2023

Presenter:
Jerel Ezell, PhD MPH
Director of Cornell Center for Cultural Humility
Assistant Professor in General Medicine
Weill Cornell University


Jerel Ezell presents on the importance of “swag” and what that means in the context of public health departments working to build a stronger public presence. He begins by describing three primary factors that contribute to a “swag deficit”. Ezell goes on to discuss approaches for engaging with communities. He ends by suggesting implications for practice and next steps.

Participants will be able to:

  • Understand primary gaps and weaknesses in how public health presents itself and engages communities
  • Define and discuss “swag deficit” at a barbeque or cocktail party 
  • Identify ways to develop a swag surplus or make your public health organization swag neutral
A Systems Approach to Reduce Gun Violence

Course Objective

  • Discuss the public health approach to addressing gun violence
  • Discuss the applicability of systems thinking to address gun violence
  • Describe the roles that local public health agencies can play to address gun violence, including supporting gun safety

Date: July 1, 2023

Gun violence is a major public health issue causing significant death, injuries and years of life lost. Gun violence and gun safety are complex public health problems and challenges that can benefit from a systems-thinking approach. This self-paced module course will focus on how local health departments can take action to address gun violence in their communities. The course describes two examples of how different counties in the state are applying the public health approach to gun violence in their communities and using systems thinking to help define the problem and identify risk factors and areas to intervene.

Confronting Barriers to Vaccine Acceptance: Create Effective Communication Using Behavioral Science

Course Objective

  • Describe vaccine hesitancy/vaccine confidence and why it is an important public health issue
  • Define behavioral science
  • Apply the Health Belief Model (HBM) to design vaccine messaging
  • Describe approaches to using behavioral science to combat misinformation about vaccines and build trust and confidence in vaccines and health care providers
  • Explain how these principles apply to current public health challenges that are described in case studies, including flu, COVID, and childhood vaccines

Date: June 30, 2023


This self-paced module course outlines how to confront barriers to vaccine acceptance by creating effective communication using behavioral science, health literacy, and techniques to combat misinformation. It provides an introduction to the key tools from each of those fields, then instructs on the five-step process of developing vaccine communications. It includes case studies to show how these principles have been applied in a real-world setting. This course is appropriate for anyone communicating about vaccination, from healthcare workers in one-on-one communications to public health promotion specialists developing full communication campaigns.

Public Health’s “Equity Clout” Problem: What Is It And How Do We Address It To Achieve Structural and Cultural Humility?

Course Objectives

  • Examine what equity clout means in the context of public health departments’ efforts to build structural and cultural humility.
  • Describe three primary factors contributing to diminished equity clout.
  • Identify three approaches for bridging the equity clout gap.

Date: June 04, 2023

Presenter:
Jerel Ezell, PhD, MPH
Director, Cornell Center for Cultural Humility
Assistant Professor in General Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine


Dr. Jerel Ezell presents on the importance of equity clout and what that means in the context of public health departments working to build structural and cultural humility. He begins by describing three primary factors that contribute to diminished equity clout. Ezell goes on to discuss approaches for bridging the equity clout gap. He ends by suggesting implications for practice and next steps.

Participants will be able to:

  1. Examine what equity clout means in the context of public health departments’ efforts to build structural and cultural humility.
  2. Describe three primary factors contributing to diminished equity clout.
  3. Identify three approaches for bridging the equity clout gap.
How to Recruit, Hire, Monitor and Train Community Health Workers: Guide for Local Health Departments

Course Objective

  • Describe the unique attributes of community health workers (CHWs)
  • List the core roles and competencies of CHWs
  • Define the importance of CHWs in driving public health improvements
  • Discuss ideas for integrating CHWs into public health departments

Date: June 30th, 2022

Subject Matter Expert:
Saehee Lee, MPH, CHES
Department of Sociomedical Sciences, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health


This course developed by the Region 2 Public Health Training Center (PHTC) aims to describe the integral role that community health workers (CHWs) can play in public health departments. After illustrating their unique attributes and core roles, the course goes on to discuss ideas for integration into public health departments. The module is designed for local health departments, population and community health organizations, and other relevant organizations.

Learners will be able to:

  1. Describe the unique attributes of community health workers (CHWs)
  2. List the core roles and competencies of CHWs
  3. Define the importance of CHWs in driving public health improvements
  4. Discuss ideas for integrating CHWs into public health departments
Region 2 Public Health Training Center