1932
0
  1. Home
  2. A-Z Publications
  3. Annual Review of Public Health
  4. Volume 44, 2023
  5. Article

Annual Review of Public Health

Volume 44, 2023

The Value and Impacts of Academic Public Health Departments

Abstract

The academic health department (AHD) is a partnership between an academic institution and a governmental health agency. These partnerships are meant to provide mutual benefits that include opportunities for student field placements and internships, practice-informed curriculum, and practice-based research. The term academic health department dates back only to 2000, although there are several examples of academic–practice partnerships prior to that date. In addition to AHDs that have been established over the past two decades, other forms of academic–practice engagement provide similar mutual benefits, such as prevention research centers and public health training centers. Current research on AHDs explores how these partnerships matter regarding the outputs, outcomes, and impacts of the units that comprise them. This review also considers the most recent perspectives on how AHDs have responded to the COVID-19 pandemic and how they might advance public health's efforts to address structural racism and promote health equity.

Keyword(s): academic health department, academic practice partnership, AHD, COVID-19, evidence-based decision-making, health equity, public health
Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-publhealth-071421-031614
2023-04-03
2024-04-28
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

/deliver/fulltext/publhealth/44/1/annurev-publhealth-071421-031614.html?itemId=/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-publhealth-071421-031614&mimeType=html&fmt=ahah

Literature Cited

  1. 1.
    Akintobi TH, Dawood N, Blumenthal DS. 2014. An academic-public health department partnership for education, research, practice, and governance. J. Public Health Manag. Pract. 20:310–14
     [Google Scholar]
  2. 2.
    Alang S, Hardeman R, Karbeah JM, Akosionu O, McGuire C et al. 2021. White supremacy and the core functions of public health. Am. J. Public Health 111:815–19
     [Google Scholar]
  3. 3.
    APHA (Am. Public Health Assoc.) 2001. Research and intervention on racism as a fundamental cause of ethnic disparities in health. Am. J. Public Health 91:515–16
     [Google Scholar]
  4. 4.
    Assoc. Sch. Public Health Counc. Public Health Pract. Coord 2000. Demonstrating excellence in academic public health practice. J. Public Health Manag. Pract. 6:10–24
     [Google Scholar]
  5. 5.
    Atchison C, Boatright DT, Merrigan D, Quill BE, Whittaker C et al. 2006. Demonstrating excellence in practice-based teaching for public health. J. Public Health Manag. Pract. 12:15–21
     [Google Scholar]
  6. 6.
    Barbee-Lee M, Seymour K, Hett AL, Norris G, Stack S et al. 2021. School nursing in a pandemic: striving for excellence in Santa Fe public schools. NASN Sch. Nurse 36:276–83
     [Google Scholar]
  7. 7.
    Barry-Jester AM, Recht H, Smith MR. 2020. Underfunded and under threat: Pandemic backlash jeopardizes public health powers, leaders. Kaiser Health News Dec. 15
    [Google Scholar]
  8. 8.
    Bigley MB. 2016. HRSA's transformation of public health training. Public Health Rep. 131:4–6
     [Google Scholar]
  9. 9.
    Birkhead GS, Eidson M, Dewar D, Nasca P, Morse DL, Shah NR. 2014. Integrating public health education in a public health practice setting: the experience of the School of Public Health, University at Albany and the New York State Department of Health. J. Public Health Manag. Pract. 20:278–84Discusses the establishment of a school of public health by a state public health agency.
     [Google Scholar]
  10. 10.
    Brooks B, Blackley D, Masters P, May AS, Mayes G et al. 2014. Developing an academic health department in Northeast Tennessee: a sustainable approach through student leadership. J. Public Health Manag. Pract. 20:315–23
     [Google Scholar]
  11. 11.
    Brownson RC, Kumanyika SK, Kreuter MW, Haire-Joshu D. 2021. Implementation science should give higher priority to health equity. Implement. Sci. 16:28
     [Google Scholar]
  12. 12.
    Brownson RC, Reis RS, Allen P, Duggan K, Fields R et al. 2014. Understanding administrative evidence-based practices: findings from a survey of local health department leaders. Am. J. Prev. Med. 46:49–57
     [Google Scholar]
  13. 13.
    Brownson RC, Shelton RC, Geng EH, Glasgow RE. 2022. Revisiting concepts of evidence in implementation science. Implement. Sci. 17:26
     [Google Scholar]
  14. 14.
    Chambers LW, Hoey J, Underwood J, Bains N. 1998. Integration of service, education, and research in local official public health agencies. Am. J. Public Health 88:1102–4
     [Google Scholar]
  15. 15.
    Chandler CE, Williams CR, Turner MW, Shanahan ME. 2022. Training public health students in racial justice and health equity: a systematic review. Public Health Rep. 137:375–85
     [Google Scholar]
  16. 16.
    Conte C, Chang CS, Malcolm J, Russo PG. 2006. Academic health departments: from theory to practice. J. Public Health Manag. Pract. 12:6–14
     [Google Scholar]
  17. 17.
    de Beaumont Found 2022. The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic: rising stress and burnout in public health PH WINS Brief, de Beaumont Found. Bethesda, MD: https://debeaumont.org/wp-content/uploads/dlm_uploads/2022/03/Stress-and-Burnout-Brief_final.pdf
  18. 18.
    Dent RB, Vichare A, Casimir J. 2021. Addressing structural racism in the health workforce. Med. Care 59:S409–12
     [Google Scholar]
  19. 19.
    Diamond-Caravella M, Fox A, Clark M, Goodstone L, Glaser C. 2022. Alternative capstone nursing experience to scale up testing and case investigation. Public Health Nurs. 39:664–69
     [Google Scholar]
  20. 20.
    DiMaggio C, Markenson D, Henning K, Redlener I, Zimmerman R. 2006. Partnership for preparedness: a model of academic public health. J. Public Health Manag. Pract. 12:22–27
     [Google Scholar]
  21. 21.
    Duerme R, Dorsinville A, McIntosh-Beckles N, Wright-Woolcock S. 2021. Rationale for the design and implementation of interventions addressing institutional racism at a local public health department. Ethn. Dis. 31:365–74
     [Google Scholar]
  22. 22.
    Erwin PC, Barlow P, Brownson RC, Amos K, Keck CW 2016. Characteristics of academic health departments: initial findings from a cross-sectional survey. J. Public Health Manag. Pract. 22:190–93
     [Google Scholar]
  23. 23.
    Erwin PC, Brownson RC, Livingood WC, Keck CW, Amos K. 2017. Development of a research agenda focused on academic health departments. Am. J. Public Health 107:1369–75Presents a research agenda for AHDs that focuses on inputs, outputs, outcomes, and impact.
     [Google Scholar]
  24. 24.
    Erwin PC, Harris JK, Smith C, Leep CJ, Duggan K, Brownson RC. 2014. Evidence-based public health practice among program managers in local public health departments. J. Public Health Manag. Pract. 20:472–80
     [Google Scholar]
  25. 25.
    Erwin PC, Harris JK, Wong R, Plepys CM, Brownson RC. 2016. The academic health department: academic–practice partnerships among accredited U.S. schools and programs of public health, 2015. Public Health Rep. 131:630–36
     [Google Scholar]
  26. 26.
    Erwin PC, Keck CW. 2014. The academic health department: the process of maturation. J. Public Health Manag. Pract. 20:270–77
     [Google Scholar]
  27. 27.
    Erwin PC, McNeely CS, Grubaugh JH, Valentine J, Miller MD, Buchanan M. 2016. A logic model for evaluating the academic health department. J. Public Health Manag. Pract. 22:182–89Offers a framework for evaluating AHDs, using a logic model.
     [Google Scholar]
  28. 28.
    Erwin PC, Parks RG, Mazzucca S, Allen P, Baker EA et al. 2019. Evidence-based public health provided through local health departments: importance of academic-practice partnerships. Am. J. Public Health 109:739–47Presents empirical evidence that health departments with AHDs provide higher levels of evidence-based interventions.
     [Google Scholar]
  29. 29.
    Fee E. 1993. Partners in community health: the Baltimore City Health Department, the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health, and the Eastern Health District, 1932–1992. Md. Med. J. 42:735–44Provides an important historical overview of one of the earliest AHD-like partnerships.
     [Google Scholar]
  30. 30.
    Ford CL, Airhihenbuwa CO. 2010. The public health critical race methodology: praxis for antiracism research. Soc. Sci. Med. 71:1390–98
     [Google Scholar]
  31. 31.
    Gordon AK, Chung K, Handler A, Turnock BJ, Schieve LA, Ippoliti P. 1999. Final report on public health practice linkages between schools of public health and state health agencies: 1992–1996. J. Public Health Manag. Pract. 5:25–34Serves as the culmination of a decade of research on linkages between state health agencies and academia.
     [Google Scholar]
  32. 32.
    Green LW. 2008. Making research relevant: If it is an evidence-based practice, where's the practice-based evidence?. Fam. Pract. 25:i20–24
     [Google Scholar]
  33. 33.
    Green LW, Brownson RC, Fielding JE. 2017. Introduction: How is the growing concern for relevance and implementation of evidence-based interventions shaping the public health research agenda?. Annu. Rev. Public Health 38:v–vii
     [Google Scholar]
  34. 34.
    Greene D, Healton C, Hamburg M, Rosenfield A, Cagan E et al. 1999. Creating training opportunities for public health practitioners. Am. J. Prev. Med. 16:80–85
     [Google Scholar]
  35. 35.
    Hamilton CB, Buchanan ML, Grubaugh JH, Erwin PC. 2014. Forming an academic health department: a case example. J. Public Health Manag. Pract. 20:304–9
     [Google Scholar]
  36. 36.
    Handler A, Schieve LA, Ippoliti P, Gordon AK, Turnock BJ. 1994. Building bridges between schools of public health and public health practice. Am. J. Public Health 84:1077–80
     [Google Scholar]
  37. 37.
    House PJ, Hartfield K, Nicola B, Bogan SL 2014. The University of Washington's Community-Oriented Public Health Practice Program and Public Health–Seattle & King County Partnership. J. Public Health Manag. Pract. 20:285–89
     [Google Scholar]
  38. 38.
    Inst. Med 1988. The Future of Public Health Washington, DC: Natl. Acad. PressOffers the modern-day impetus for revitalizing academic-practice linkages.
  39. 39.
    Keck CW. 2000. Lessons learned from an academic health department. J. Public Health Manag. Pract. 6:47–52Presents the first use of the term academic health department.
     [Google Scholar]
  40. 40.
    Kelliher R. 2018. Academic and practice partnerships: building an effective public health system focusing on public health preparedness and response. Am. J. Public Health 108:S353–54
     [Google Scholar]
  41. 41.
    Kent LA, Saddler LM, Mase WA. 2014. The journey to becoming an academic health department in northern Kentucky. J. Public Health Manag. Pract. 20:297–303
     [Google Scholar]
  42. 42.
    Koetter P, Pelton M, Gonzalo J, Du P, Exten C et al. 2020. Implementation and process of a COVID-19 contact tracing initiative: leveraging health professional students to extend the workforce during a pandemic. Am. J. Infect. Control 48:1451–56
     [Google Scholar]
  43. 43.
    Kumanyika SK. 2016. Health equity is the issue we have been waiting for. J. Public Health Manag. Pract. 22:S8–10
     [Google Scholar]
  44. 44.
    Lawrence K, Sutton S, Kubisch A, Susi G, Fulbright-Anderson K. 2004. Structural racism and community building Rep. Aspen Inst. Roundtable Community Change Washington, DC: https://www.aspeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/files/content/docs/rcc/aspen_structural_racism2.pdf
  45. 45.
    Ledesma D, Maroofi H, Sabin S, Dennehy TJ, Truong JM et al. 2022. Design and implementation of a COVID-19 case investigation program: an academic-public health partnership, Arizona, 2020. Public Health Rep. 137:213–19
     [Google Scholar]
  46. 46.
    Lee AF, Quade T, Dwinnells R. 2014. Evolution of the academic health department through public health academic and practice collaborations. J. Public Health Manag. Pract. 20:290–96
     [Google Scholar]
  47. 47.
    Leser KA, Hay MC, Henebry B, Virden J, Patel M et al. 2022. An academic-health department community partnership to expand disease investigation and contact tracing capacity and efficiency during the COVID-19 pandemic. J. Public Health Manag. Pract. 28:E16–22
     [Google Scholar]
  48. 48.
    Livingood WC, Goldhagen J, Bryant T 3rd, Harmon RG, Wood DL. 2014. Institutionalizing the academic health department within the context of the 3-fold academic mission. J. Public Health Manag. Pract. 20:336–41
     [Google Scholar]
  49. 49.
    Livingood WC, Goldhagen J, Bryant T 3rd, Wood D, Winterbauer N, Woodhouse LD. 2007. A community-centered model of the academic health department and implications for assessment. J. Public Health Manag. Pract. 13:662–69
     [Google Scholar]
  50. 50.
    Livingood WC, Goldhagen J, Little WL, Gornto J, Hou T. 2007. Assessing the status of partnerships between academic institutions and public health agencies. Am. J. Public Health 97:659–66
     [Google Scholar]
  51. 51.
    Maeshiro R. 2006. Health departments and medical schools. J. Public Health Manag. Pract. 12:31–32
     [Google Scholar]
  52. 52.
    Maeshiro R, Koo D, Keck CW 2011. Integration of public health into medical education: an introduction to the supplement. Am. J. Prev. Med. 41:S145–48Introduces a special issue of American Journal of Preventive Medicine on the integration of public health and medicine.
     [Google Scholar]
  53. 53.
    NACCHO (Natl. Assoc. County City Health Off.) 2020. Building COVID-19 contact tracing capacity in health departments to support reopening American society safely Position Statement, NACCHO Washington, DC: https://www.naccho.org/uploads/full-width-images/Contact-Tracing-Statement-4-16-2020.pdf
  54. 54.
    Nakashian M. 2013. Robert Wood Johnson Foundation practice-based research networks in public health Prog. Rep., Robert Wood Johnson Found. Princeton, NJ: https://www.rwjf.org/en/library/research/2013/06/robert-wood-johnson-foundation-practice-based-research-networks-.html
  55. 55.
    Neri EM, Ballman MR, Lu H, Greenlund KJ, Grunbaum JA. 2014. Academic-health department collaborative relationships are reciprocal and strengthen public health practice: results from a study of academic research centers. J. Public Health Manag. Pract. 20:342–48
     [Google Scholar]
  56. 56.
    Niccolai L, Shelby T, Weeks B, Schenck C, Goodwin J et al. 2021. Community trace: rapid establishment of a volunteer contact tracing program for COVID-19. Am. J. Public Health 111:54–57
     [Google Scholar]
  57. 57.
    Pelton M, Medina D, Sood N, Bogale K, Buzzelli L et al. 2021. Efficacy of a student-led community contact tracing program partnered with an academic medical center during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. Ann. Epidemiol. 56:26–33.e1
     [Google Scholar]
  58. 58.
    Plamondon KM. 2020. A tool to assess alignment between knowledge and action for health equity. BMC Public Health 20:224
     [Google Scholar]
  59. 59.
    Plamondon KM, Bottorff JL, Caxaj CS, Graham ID. 2020. The integration of evidence from the Commission on Social Determinants of Health in the field of health equity: a scoping review. Crit. Public Health 30:415–28
     [Google Scholar]
  60. 60.
    Public Health Found 2022. Academic Health Department Learning Community. PHF http://www.phf.org/programs/AHDLC/Pages/Academic_Health_Department_Learning_Community.aspx Provides resources and a support network for those involved and interested in AHD partnerships.
     [Google Scholar]
  61. 61.
    Qari SH, Abramson DM, Kushma JA, Halverson PK. 2014. Preparedness and emergency response research centers: early returns on investment in evidence-based public health systems research. Public Health Rep. 129:Suppl. 41–4
     [Google Scholar]
  62. 62.
    Schieve LA, Handler A, Gordon AK, Ippoliti P, Turnock BJ. 1997. Public health practice linkages between schools of public health and state health agencies: results from a three-year survey. J. Public Health Manag. Pract. 3:29–36
     [Google Scholar]
  63. 63.
    Simckes M, Shah A, Guthrie BL, Ross JM, Wasserheit J et al. 2022. Navigating the storm of COVID-19 literature through academic-practice partnership in Washington State: the COVID-19 Literature Situation Report. J. Public Health Manag. Pract. 28:E9–15
     [Google Scholar]
  64. 64.
    Smith LU, Waddell L, Kyle J, Hand GA 2014. Building a sustainable academic health department: the South Carolina model. J. Public Health Manag. Pract. 20:E6–11
     [Google Scholar]
  65. 65.
    Sull D, Sull C, Zweig B. 2022. Toxic culture is driving the great resignation. MIT Sloan Manag. Rev. 63:1–9
     [Google Scholar]
  66. 66.
    Swain GR, Bennett N, Etkind P, Ransom J. 2006. Local health department and academic partnerships: education beyond the ivy walls. J. Public Health Manag. Pract. 12:33–36
     [Google Scholar]
  67. 67.
    Turner NC, Chen HT, Harvey D, Smith J Jr., Redding KC. 2014. A liaison-based academic health department in Georgia: a partnership for improving community health. J. Public Health Manag. Pract. 20:E1–5
     [Google Scholar]
  68. 68.
    Wolfenden L, Williams CM, Kingsland M, Yoong SL, Nathan N et al. 2020. Improving the impact of public health service delivery and research: a decision tree to aid evidence-based public health practice and research. Aust. N. Z. J. Public Health 44:331–32
     [Google Scholar]
  69. 69.
    Wolfenden L, Yoong SL, Williams CM, Grimshaw J, Durrheim DN et al. 2017. Embedding researchers in health service organizations improves research translation and health service performance: the Australian Hunter New England Population Health example. J. Clin. Epidemiol. 85:3–11
     [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-publhealth-071421-031614
Loading
The Value and Impacts of Academic Public Health Departments
Annual Review of Public Health 44, 343 (2023); https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-publhealth-071421-031614
/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-publhealth-071421-031614
/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-publhealth-071421-031614
Loading

Data & Media loading...

Supplemental Material

Supplementary Data

  • Article Type: Review Article

Most Cited Most Cited RSS feed

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a Success
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error