VW health team chosen for CDC training

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The Van Wert County Health Collaborative Leadership Team was selected to participate in the National Leadership Academy for the Public’s Health (NLAPH) program, funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

NLAPH is a national program focused on improving population health by working with multi-sector leadership teams and training the teams through an applied, team-based collaborative leadership development model.  The program is implemented by the Center for Health Leadership and Practice (CHLP), a center of the Public Health Institute (PHI), and will provide training and support for a period of one year.

“This program will impart population health teams with the skills to lead across sectors and collaboratively solve complex population health problems in innovative ways,” said Carmen Rita Nevarez, MD, MPH, and vice president for external relations and CHLP’s director. “These are the types of leaders who will ultimately be able to drive critical efforts, such as the adoption of evidence-based policies and practices at the community level, which can have a tangible impact on health outcomes.”

The Van Wert County Health Collaborative Leadership team is one of five teams selected across the nation to be a part of the 2017 program and work on an applied health leadership project that tackles an important population health issue with the goal of improving public health outcomes, which is designed to help communities create solutions addressing specific factors that are known to affect health.

In 2016 representatives from various agencies worked together to identify the top three priorities in Van Wert: obesity, behavioral health, which includes substance abuse and risky behaviors, and access to health care specific to transportation. Driving impact in these areas takes commitment and collaboration across multiple sectors in the community.

The team assembled to lead a collaborative effort to impact these areas includes Anne Dunn, community wellness coordinator at Van Wert County Hospital; Leslie Bailey, RN, director of nursing for the Van Wert County General Health District; Mark Spieles, MSW, CEO of Westwood Behavioral Health Center; and Vicki Smith, executive director of the Van Wert County United Way.

Team members are excited about the opportunity to participate in this leadership program and partner with national leaders in public health. The program will help build relationships around a common vision of wellbeing and better leverage resources to build a healthier Van Wert.

NLAPH provides training and support to assist the team in successfully addressing a framework to strengthen community collaboration to improve health. Training and support focuses on two tracks. First, the development of leadership skills, including personal and collaborative leadership in a multi-sector environment. That portion of the training kicked off last week when the team attended the NLAPH retreat at the Emory Conference Center in Atlanta, Georgia.

The second track emphasizes growth from team-based collaborative work to policy and systems change. NLAPH is provided at no cost to participants and the community.