Measuring Public Health Practitioner's Information and Communication Technology Competence and Preparation: A Mixed Methods Approach

Abstract

There has been an increase in the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in the field of public health. The World Health Organization (WHO) states that this is imperative in health promotion and disease prevention. The accrediting body for schools and programs of public health, the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH), points to the importance of educating the next generation of public health practitioners on developing and implementing ICTs into the delivery of health-related services. Little is known about how public health practitioners are using ICTs and how they are being trained. This dissertation utilizes both quantitative and qualitative approaches to understand the use of ICTs as public health tools; while examining information regarding the education, training, and professional preparation of public health practitioners. This study aimed to 1) Identify the status of ICT use in public health training and practice, 2) Clarify the existing ICT training opportunities in schools and programs of public health, and 3) Understand the ICT experiences of a public health practitioner. A scoping review of the literature pointed out that while public health practitioners are using ICTs; we do not know how these practitioners were trained; thus, we are unable to link training to program outcomes. A quantitative content analysis of the curriculum and syllabi of a School of Public Health showed that while ICTs are being incorporated into course learning objectives' they are not fully integrated across all departments and courses evenly. Lastly, public health practitioners interviewed for this study could not identify specific instances in their academic training on delivering services using ICTs. They did, however, point to the importance that ICTs will have in advancing public health in the future.