The face of public health is changing rapidly in the United States. Federal funding cuts are forcing the public health workforce to do more with less. At the same time, the field of public health faces emerging challenges that need immediate support. We believe NNPHI and its member PHIs are well-positioned to address the following emerging issues in public health.
Artificial Intelligence and Public Health
As artificial intelligence continues to develop, public health organizations will face increasing opportunities for investment and use of AI tools. The Kansas Health Institute, a network member of NNPHI, is leading some of the nation’s first efforts at defining policies and guidelines for use of AI within public health contexts.
Data Modernization
Americans are examined by physicians more than one billion times each year. This generates a massive amount of data about Americans’ health needs and outcomes, but our nation lacks effective infrastructure to connect the public health system with healthcare data.
NNPHI is a national expert in data modernization (DMI) efforts, currently co-leading the DMI components of CDC’s Public Health Infrastructure Grant. Our network of PHIs play a crucial role in these efforts. PHIs are providing technical assistance at the local and state level toward the building of data systems and are providing bandwidth to house critical health databases.
Extreme weather and emergency management
As the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration loses funding and its workforce is reduced, gaps are emerging in addressing America’s critical climate challenges.
NNPHI’s environmental health and emergency management team focuses on readiness, resiliency and response to extreme weather events. The team provides technical assistance focused on preparedness, response and recovery to PHIs and other partners around the nation.
Navigating the funding landscape
As federal funding to support local and state public health is reduced, the agencies, institutes and non-profits that implement public health are facing a new environment. Likewise, as federal priorities for health funding shift toward chronic diseases, there may be new organizations engaging in federally-funded public health efforts.
NNPHI is uniquely suited to package the technical skills of its staff at the national level to assist the workforce at the local level, where particular skills may be missing or in development. NNPHI is equipped to assist organizations earning federal grants for the first time and organizations that may be turning to philanthropy for future funding.
Contact Us
Interested in learning more about partnering with NNPHI and its member institutes, or have a particular project ready for further discussion? Let us guide you through next steps in the process.