Reflections on CIHR's Strategic Training Program for Emerging Public Health Policy Professionals

1. EMERGING AS PUBLIC HEALTH POLICY PROFESSIONALS: TRAINEES’ REFLECTIONS ON THE cihr Strategic training program Tuesday, May 27, 2014

2. Outline • Background • Overview of CIHR Strategic Training Program in PHP • Alignment with public health (PH) competencies • Assessment & Analysis • Policy & Program Planning • Partnerships, Collaboration & Advocacy • Recommendations for PHP training

3. Background • Need for PH practitioners trained in effective, systematic & evidence-based policy to respond to PH challenges • STIHR (2009-2015) developed to respond to this need • PH core competencies affirmed by PHAC (2008)

4. Public health competencies • Public Health Sciences • Assessment & Analysis • Policy & Program Planning, Implementation & Evaluation • Partnerships, Collaboration & Advocacy • Diversity & Inclusiveness • Communication • Leadership

5. Lessons learned… … can inform broader public health policy(PHP) training

6. PROGRAM Overview: objectives • Capacity-building for PHP & research • Interdisciplinary learning for trainees & professionals • Collaborative research across academic, government, & non-profit sectors

7. PROGRAM overview: components • Core courses in policy theories, tools, & analysis • Policy rounds • Lunch & learns • Policy institutes • Mentorship • Practicum/work opportunities in PH organization • Group/pod work

8. ALIGNMENT with PH competencies • Public Health Sciences • Assessment & Analysis • Policy & Program Planning, Implementation & Evaluation • Partnerships, Collaboration & Advocacy • Diversity & Inclusiveness • Communication • Leadership

9. Emerging PHP competencies • Linking PHP theory to practice • Theoretical training in core PHP theories & tools • Participation in topical working groups (i.e. ‘pods’) on key PH issues (i.e., built environment, sodium reduction) • Mentorship from leading PH researchers, practitioners & advocates

10. Emerging PHP competencies • Interdisciplinary learning • Shared language & tools for conceptualizing PHP issues • Diffusion & promotion of PHP perspective into other disciplines • Collaborative learning between students, mentors, & community partners

11. Recommendations for PHP training • 1. The role of attitudes & values in policy training • Recognized need to understand how values of sustainable development, equity & social justice can be adopted in the policy process, however “difficult to teach & harder to assess” (PHAC 2008) Recommendation: Integrate critical analyses of the role of attitudes & values across the PHP process

12. Recommendations for PHP training 2. Innovative methods in PHP • PHP increasingly marked by ‘wickedness’ & ‘complexity’ • New tools (i.e., interpretive approaches or ‘Health in All’ policies) required to respond to these challenges Recommendation: Complement traditional policy theories & approaches with practice-based, self-directed learning (i.e., practicum placements, collaborative programs, etc)

13. Recommendations for PHP training 3. Interdisciplinary learning • Cross-sectoral learning is required to meet the complexity of PH challenges • Training program structure provides unique opportunity to identify/understand disciplinary languages & their impact on the policy process Recommendation: Identify opportunities for interdisciplinary training & collaboration

14. Acknowledgements • Dr. Robert Schwartz & Joanna Cohen (principal investigators) & the CIHR Strategic Training Program in Public Health Policy investigator team • Sandra Caswell, Program Administrator • Past and present STIHR policy fellows & mentors