Validity and Utility of the National Health Security Index for Public Health Preparedness

  • Waters, Teresa (PI)
  • Mays, Glen (Former PI)
  • Hoover, Anna (Former CoI)

Grants and Contracts Details

Description

Natural disasters, disease outbreaks, infrastructure failures and other hazardous events create health risks for large segments of the U.S. population. Many different organizations and sectors have roles to play in preventing, preparing for, responding to, and recovering from the health effects of disasters and emergencies.1 This complexity poses challenges for understanding the collective strength of the health security system as a whole, and for managing and improving this system over time. The National Health Security Preparedness Index provides a mechanism for measuring how health security capabilities vary across the U.S. how they change over time, and how they can be strengthened to protect everyone.2 Using a multi-sector systems perspective, the Index combines measures from more than 50 sources and multiple vantage points to offer this broad view of preparedness.3 State and local public health preparedness programs function as critical components of the nation’s health security system.4 Relatively little is known about how accurately and completely the Index measures public health preparedness, and about how preparedness programs can best use the Index. To address these gaps, this proposed research project will pursue 4 related aims: (1) assess how the Index performs in measuring state and local preparedness capabilities and their contributions to national health security; (2) identify a core set of metrics that accurately reflect state and local preparedness capabilities and that are feasible for use within the Index and in other measurement tools; (3) evaluate the current use and utility of the Index for public health preparedness programs; and (4) produce guidance for these preparedness programs indicating how they can use current and future editions of the Index to strengthen health security in their states and communities.
StatusFinished
Effective start/end date9/26/186/30/22

Funding

  • Center for Disease Control and Prevention: $1,499,956.00

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