Reducing Promotion and Consumption of Ultra-Processed Food

This two-part course aims to understand ultra-processed food and explore how health departments can combat the promotion of ultra-processed food.

In Part I, we will develop a better understanding of ultra-processed food, and how it promotes negative health outcomes particularly for some populations.

In Part II, we will explore how health departments can combat the promotion of ultra-processed food.

 

 

 

 

 

Policy Analysis in the Policy Process and How Systems Thinking Fits In

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.

 

 

 

 

 

Strategy and Policy Development in the Policy Process and How Systems Thinking Fits In

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

 

 

 

 

 

Community Engagement: The People’s Approach to Improving Health and Social Outcomes

This course focuses on community engagement, and the role of local health departments in engaging local communities. It focuses on strategies for “true” community engagement, which is about collaborating with and empowering local communities, and recognizing the expert in every community member and every leader representing the community. It also provides an overview of case studies, best practices and strategies for community dialogue and engagement and/or integrating community engagement in public health practice.

 

 

 

 

 

Succession Planning and Workforce Development for Public Health Agencies

This course describes how health departments can undertake succession planning and workforce development efforts, even during ‘VUCA’ (volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous) times, using a case study approach set in the fictitious Tycho County.

Change Management: How Leadership can Support Staff during Crises

This training is the second in the Strategic Skills Training Series focused on Change Management for Public Health Professionals. This module explains the utility of the adaptive leadership model and the 4 dimensions of change readiness to address public health workforce issues, specifically focusing on staff morale. It also guides you through Kotter’s 8-step model to plan, implement, and sustain change within an organization.

An Overview of the Policy Process in Public Health and the Need for Systems Thinking

Engaging in policy making is an essential activity of public health agencies and staff to achieve the goals of Public Health 3.0 and to work collaboratively to address the social determinants of health. This training provides an overview of the policy making process as defined by the Centers for Disease Control, draws on the COVID-19 and other complex public health problems to discuss the challenges commonly faced by public health agencies during this policy process, and makes the case for using a systems thinking approach  to overcome these policy roadblocks and address unintended consequences.

Reducing Obesity and Diet-Related Diseases by Limiting Predatory Marketing of Unhealthy Food

Unhealthy food is the leading cause of premature death and preventable illness around the world today. Predatory marketing makes a significant contribution to this burden. Public health professionals can play an important role in reducing the prevalence and exposure to predatory marketing. This two-part training module develops an understanding of the current landscape of predatory marketing of unhealthy food and beverages, and how it promotes negative health outcomes particularly for vulnerable populations. This program will define the role of health departments in addressing predatory marketing, outline ways health departments can help document predatory marketing in their communities, and provide recommendations and examples of policy engagement activities public health professionals can get involved in.

Assessing your Audience for More Effective Cross-Sector Collaboration

Multi-sector collaboration is increasingly important for addressing health challenges. This training focuses on assessing audiences to develop tailored communication strategies for building collaborative partnerships. Using a case approach based in fictitious Tycho County, this training will describe the steps of developing an Audience Analysis strategy in order to build cross-sectoral partnerships to address opioid misuse.

Problem Identification in the Policy Process and How Systems Thinking Fits In

This course describes how to implement the first stage of the CDC policy process – Problem Identification. Using a scenario focused on the opioid problem in fictitious Tycho County, the course discusses the practical steps that a health department, working in collaboration with key stakeholders, can take to describe and understand this complex problem. The course also explores how the application of systems thinking tools and approaches to make boundary decisions and visualize the problem using behavior over time graphs and rich pictures, can strengthen this stage of the policy making process.

Introductory Strategic Skills Modules

The modules in this series use the Community Health Improvement Planning (CHIP)process to introduce you, the learner, to the basics of the following strategic skills:

• Systems Thinking
• Persuasive Communication
• Change Management

To help you think about ways to leverage these skills in your journey as a Chief Health Strategist, to address real world problems in your community, the modules utilize a case study approach, set in the fictitious Tycho County focused on an all too familiar public health problem, opioid misuse.

Follow the button below to access these modules.

Need more Systems Thinking?

We’ve developed an introductory module to explore how to use problem solving approaches inspired by systems thinking to reduce inequities in childhood obesity.

 

Click the button below to access A Systems Approach to Understanding Childhood Obesity