The Work

Public Health Accreditation Technical Assistance for Health Departments

The newly developed voluntary accreditation process designed to enhance public health practice throughout the U.S. provides unique opportunities for state and local governments to make greater strides in protecting the public's health. Additionally, if framed properly, officials can leverage accreditation to educate policymakers about the important role public health departments play in protecting community health.

Identifying experts in government and community public health practice, policy development, adult education, and quality improvement, IPHi recently established a technical assistance team to assist interested public health departments and agencies that wish to prepare for accreditation.

This team of experts will offer the following array of technical support services:

• Accreditation preparedness assessment
• Technical assistance on the three accreditation prerequisites
• Process management and coordination
• Policymaker education
• Convening assistance, including policy and governance stakeholders
• Documentation management
• Facilitation of peer learning
• Tailored communications plans
• Quality improvement planning

As neutral, nonprofit entities, public health institutes are uniquely positioned to support governments interested in pursuing accreditation. For health departments that need to fulfill prerequisites, IPHi can support strategic planning processes and offers rich experience in community health assessment and the development of community health improvement plans. Through affiliation with the National Network of Public Health Institutes (NNPHI), member public health institutes share resources and promising practices and receive technical support from NNPHI staff.