Executive Summary
The Rhode Island Public Health Institute is on the threshold of a two-year project to build a sustainable infrastructure and expand its capacity in partnership with the Rhode Island Department of Health and Brown University. This is an important opportunity for the board and executive director to plan for the three to five years beyond the end of the project in 2009, setting the future direction of the Institute.
Through key informant interviews and a board planning session, an environmental scan and situation analysis were conducted to determine the current state of public health projects and funding in Rhode Island. Particular emphasis was placed on determining the most effective roles for the RIPHI in the context of the academic and public health communities and on the needs of community-based organizations serving the people of Rhode Island.
Essential questions providing a framework for dialogue were:
- In the context of public health in Rhode Island, what role will the Institute play?
- Where are the gaps in public health information and infrastructure at the community level?
- Where will the RIPHI focus its efforts over the next three to five years?
- How will the Institute identify and choose its projects?
- Where will the sustaining funding come from?
The environmental scan sparked lively discussion among board members and the executive director. Focus for the Institute began to emerge from this discussion: the Institute is best positioned to take on the role of building bridges among academia, public health and communities. The strengths of the Institute will focus on:
- Bringing sound, integrated public health practice to the community through developing and implementing tools, such as health surveys and assessments, and
- Linking students and faculty to communities in cooperative and collaborative public health projects and research.
By focusing on bridging among academia, public health and the community, the Institute will be uniquely positioned to extend the reach of surveillance for chronic disease, encourage statewide and community-based public health planning and projects, assist with measuring community level interventions, and assist the Department of Health in setting priorities, meeting community needs, and evaluating results.
Overall, the RIPHI will serve the people of Rhode Island by:
- Developing useful community health assessments that can be aggregated
- Extending university partnerships with the Department of Health and communities
- Facilitating community-based public health research and student field experiences
- Serving the public health needs of communities and community-based organizations
Environmental Scan
Though key informant interviews and board members’ input, an environmental scan was compiled to inform the strategic plan. Since the last strategic plan update was conducted in 2003, there has been substantial change in the public health environment in Rhode Island. One of the key changes has been the emergence of the Brown University Program in Public Health and the University’s commitment to a school of public health. This development is strengthening the public health functions in Rhode Island.
The other most important significant change in the local environment is demographic. With increasing immigration and increasing diversity come increased challenges for public health in terms of monitoring, assessing and communicating with diverse populations.
The pressures on community-based organizations continue to grow, and they are seeking partners to assist them in serving their populations. Because of the increased immigration and shrinking resources, more and more people do not have health insurance and therefore do not seek medical care. Lack of contact with the health system leaves them without necessary health information that will help them stay healthy, avoid chronic diseases and practice sound preventive health. Cooperative efforts between academic institutions and community-based organizations are difficult to sustain, an identified gap in the public health infrastructure.
Another critical area identified in the scan is the shrinking resource pool for funding, not only public health, but for all community-based initiatives. Federal and state funding is increasingly competitive. Launching a new non-profit organization into the community and academic landscape to compete for shrinking funds is a no-win proposition unless that organization can position itself as an indispensable partner in the environment.
Areas for Concentration
In synthesizing the environmental scan and input from board members in the first strategic planning session, thematic areas for RIPHI focus began to emerge as follows:
1. Gather data and provide health information for local governments, community-based organizations, the Department of Health and academia by:
- Serving as the catalyst to bring academia and the community together in research projects
- Developing tools to collect community level data that can be aggregated to expand the statewide public health information
- Integrating and analyzing community level data for public health purposes
- Turning the information into tools that are useful for advocacy and program development
- Emphasizing organizing at the local level to respond to the Department of Health and other potential supporters of public health work
2. Create a working group with academic institutions and the Department of Health to develop projects for research and training by:
- Exploring and facilitating responses to opportunities for community-campus partnerships
- Acting as a conduit for student training, research, internships and externships
- Fostering collaborations across academic institution boundaries to meet community needs
- Providing front-end and back-end for research projects in communities
3. Develop a statewide network to be responsive to local needs, by:
- Creating a CBO advisory group to build and sustain trust
- Creating regional/local sub-networks to facilitate successful partnerships
- Viewing local government agencies as public health assets and assisting them accordingly
4. Mining grant opportunities and developing appropriate partnerships to apply for them.
By concentrating on these four focus areas, the Institute can develop its own funding opportunities from products, from helping others obtain funding, and from innovative projects that it develops.
Out of these deliberations, the Rhode Island Public Health Institute has refined its vision, mission and strategic priorities for 2007 to 2011.
Strategic Plan: