Title: Turning Point Provides Lessons and Tools for Public Health System Improvement
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Section/SPIG: Health Administration
Issue Date:
By Betty Bekemeier <bettybek@u.washington.edu>
Betty Bekemeier is a Public Health Nurse who holds a Masters in Public Health and a Masters of Science in Nursing from Johns Hopkins University. Prior to becoming Deputy Director of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Turning Point National Program Office at the University Of Washington School Of Public Health, Betty managed the Northwest Center for Public Health Practice at the UW. The Northwest Center facilitates public health workforce development activities and planning throughout the Northwest Region.
Full collaboration across sectors and at all levels can transform how we think about public health, what our resources are, how we approach problems, and what kind of solutions emerge. The Turning Point Initiative has made this apparent.
Public health practitioners and administrators often describe themselves as familiar with Turning Point, but as not quite understanding what it is all about. Many know that the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Turning Point Initiative fostered the development of the 2003 Model State Public Health Act, for example, or that their state is a “Turning Point state” or that Turning Point has to do with partnerships and public health systems. Turning Point is all of these things.
Twenty-one states have been receiving Turning Point funding from the RWJF to transform their public health systems through collaborative statewide, cross-sector partnerships. Since 1997 they have been leveraging these RWJF dollars and Turning Point relationships toward concerted efforts in planning and implementing innovative strategies for stronger public health systems. These states have a great deal to show for the extent to which they have been:
- Improving the accountability for public health efforts;
- Developing and implementing public health statute reform;
- Strengthening public health capacity at the local level;
- Reducing health inequities through better data and organizational planning support;
- Leveraging external resources and support across sectors; and
- Using social marketing to encourage behavior and policy change.
In May 2004 a national Turning Point conference, “States of Change,” showcased the accomplishments of each of the 21 Turning Point states. This conference brought high level local and state public health officials from all 50 states together to gain from lessons learned and strategies used in Turning Point states to utilize statewide partnerships, create an ongoing planning environment for public health, and greatly expand public health capacity. While the funding for these Turning Point states will end by late 2005, they have all sought effective ways to sustain the successes they have had in creating systems that provide ongoing planning and support to the growth and development of their public health capacity.
Meanwhile, these Turning Point states have also been members of the Turning Point National Excellence Collaboratives. These National Collaboratives are made up of multiple Turning Point partner states, with representatives from state and local public health as well as from national partner organizations. The Collaboratives were formed to address areas of national significance in public health system improvement—areas that were found to have common issues among many of the states. The five Collaboratives have developed models, processes, products, and tools over the past four years, contributing to the state of the science in 1) Collaborative Leadership, 2) Public Health Law, 3) Performance Management, 4) Social Marketing, and 5) Information Technology.
The products of these Collaboratives have had a very wide appeal among public health administrators at the state and local level, seeking effective tools for meeting complex public health challenges among their populations. Several of the National Collaboratives have developed curricula and training opportunities, some have established specific ongoing Web sites, many have case study examples of how others have successfully addressed specific issues, and all have suggestions for how to use these tools to improve how we do public health and how we can maximize our partnerships.
You can access the products and lessons of Turning Point through the Turning Point Web site at <www.turningpointprogram.org>. This site will lead you to information on each of the 21 Turning Point states as well as the work and the products of each of the five National Excellence Collaboratives. Many of the materials of the Collaboratives can be downloaded or ordered through this Web site.
We can all strengthen and transform our nation’s public health system through partnership, planning, and innovation. Turning Point lessons and tools are helping show us how.