The Center for Public Health Readiness and Communication is currently involved in several projects that support its mission to improve the health and readiness of populations.
The Lehigh Valley Project
This project evaluates public health preparedness using metrics from the CDC and others to assess the strengths and gaps of public health readiness among Health Department personnel.
A quantitative metric to evaluate public health capacity is in the final stages of development. It employs the CDC focus areas of:
A) Emergency Response;
B) Epidemiology;
C) Laboratory Capacity;
D) Chemical Laboratory Capacity;
E) The Health Alert Network;
F) Risk Communication;
G) Education and Training.
Formative Research on Hospital Preparedness
The CPHRC is in the process of identifing and documenting gaps in hospital preparedness. Findings from this research will inform future Center projects.
The Philadelphia Department of Public Health Web- Enhancement
Through this project the CPHRC will provide recommendations to the Philadelphia Department of Public Health regarding appropriate content and structure for its disaster preparedness website. There are four key stages.
- Stage 0: Pre-Production Activities -- creating an evaluation and assessment tool.
- Stage 1: Assessment, Evaluation & Comparative Analysis of preparedness literature and websites in the United States.
- Stage 2: Content Development
- Stage 3: Presentation of Recommendations
NATO Programme Security Through Science
Advanced Study Institute
Co-Directors, Dr. Peter Rumm (USA, Drexel University School of Public Health) and Dr. Elisaveta Skikova (Macedonia), will jointly host a NATO-ASI Course titled Strengthening National Public Health Preparedness and Response for Chemical, Biological, and Radiological Agent Threats, in Macedonia from June 20-29, 2006. More...