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Every few months I try to highlight the Public Health Practices project (formerly Promising Practices), a freely accessible repository of public health tools and strategies, sponsored by CIDRAP at the University of Minnesota, in partnership with the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO).
Over the past two years Public Health Practices has broadened its original scope to include more than just pandemic response. You’ll find tools and practices that cover a wide range of public health concerns, including chemical, radiological, and natural disasters.
In addition to the constantly expanding website, there is also a monthly email newsletter you can sign up for.
This continually expanding site includes:
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More than 400 public health practices in 9 categories of emergency preparedness and disaster response from state and local health agencies, community-based organizations, and colleges and universities.
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In-depth stories on how state and local projects were created, communications materials in more than 40 languages, and tools like job action sheets and media campaigns.
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Expert reviewers' commentary on a practice's effectiveness, reach, sustainability, feasibility, and transferability. Please note: expert review is only available for a select number of practices.
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A regular e-newsletter featuring our newest practices and other updates from the CIDRAP Public Health Practices staff.
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The ability to search for practices based on geography, available languages, and key topics in preparedness and response.
Recent additions to the practices database include:
Recent Practices
2012 Dec 12
Community Reception Center exercise tests Florida’s radiological screening and decontamination process
State and local health departments across the country have been planning to address radiological threats, whether accidental (eg, incidents at nearby nuclear power plants) or manmade (eg,...
2012 Oct 16
Michigan integrates disaster preparedness curriculum into school health program
Disaster preparedness at the family level has been the focus of many public health agencies' communications campaigns. Recent collaborations between health agencies and school districts have...
2012 Oct 16
Social media training program builds responders' comfort with and ability to use Facebook and Twitter for emergency communications
Social media is used increasingly to alert, update, or provide recommendations to the public during emergencies. A 2011 American Red Cross (ARC) survey found that the Internet is the third most...
2012 Sep 17
Toolkit adapts infectious disease emergency response plan for local health departments
In 2006, the San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH) compiled its Infectious Disease Emergency Response (IDER) plan. The IDER plan described how to integrate local emergency management and...
2012 Sep 17
Dispense Assist online screening system helps Kansas county improve POD throughput, serve vulnerable populations
More than 70 US cities participate in the Cities Readiness Initiative (CRI), which is funded by CDC to develop programs that ensure medication is available to a city's entire population within 48...
Whether you are looking for a specific solution, or simply looking for muse to inspire your organization’s emergency preparedness efforts, visiting Public Health Practices – and returning often – will likely pay tremendous dividends.
Highly recommended.
