Resources

NJDHSS Contact Directory for Local Health Departments [pdf 126k]

Public Health - General

• The Ten Essential Public Health Services - The Essential Services provide a working definition of public health and a guiding framework for the responsibilities of local public health systems.
  
  
• Operational Definition of a Functional Health Department - Describes what everyone, regardless of where they live, can reasonably expect from governmental local public health.
  
  
• National Public Health Week - Annual celebration, held the first week of April, to promote public awareness of public health issues and the work done by public health agencies.
  
  
• Robert Wood Johnson Foundation - Public Health Program - Public Health initiatives sponsored by this national foundation.
  
  
• New Jersey State Department of Health Annual Reports - Archive of annual reports on public health in New Jersey.
  

Quality Improvement Tools for Local Health Departments

• National Public Health Performance Standards Program - Resources to support performance assessment and systems improvement.
  
  
• Accreditation and Quality Improvement - Resources to assist local health departments to prepare for national accreditation, compiled by the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO).
  

Resources for Local Health Departments

• Model Practices - Descriptions of exemplary programs developed by local health departments, collected by NACCHO.
  
  
• Tackling Health Inequities Through Public Health Practice: A Handbook for Action - NACCHO document on reducing health disparities.
  
  
• Public Health Logo - Logo developed by NACCHO to promote a national identity for local health departments.  Several versions downloadable for local use.
  
  
• The Community Guide to Preventive Services - CDC website of evidence-based recommendations for programs and policies to promote population health.
  
  
• The Prevention Institute - Non-profit national center dedicated to improving community health and well-being through effective primary prevention.
  
  
• Estimating Registered Environmental Health Specialist Staff Needs
  
  

Emergency Preparedness Resources for Local Health Departments

• Public Health Emergency Response Guide for State, Local, and Tribal  Public Health Directors - Downloadable field guide and templates from CDC.
  
  
• Project Public Health Ready - Criteria developed by NACCHO for emergency preparedness and response planning, workforce capacity development, and exercises to evaluate preparedness.
  
  
• Promising Practices: Pandemic Preparedness Tools - Website to enhance public health preparedness for an influenza pandemic and conserve resources by sharing promising practices.
  
  
• Local Heroes - Proud, Professional, Prepared - An emergency preparedness training and social marketing campaign for public health agencies that is designed to introduce public health workers to the concepts within emergency preparedness and their role in a response.
  
  
• The Role of Public Health Nurses in Emergency Preparedness and Response - Position paper from the Association of State and Territorial Directors of Nursing (ASTDN).
  
  
• New Jersey Center for Public Health Preparedness - Preparedness training and research center of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ).
  
  
• New Jersey Medical Reserve Corps - System to register and prepare volunteers to serve in the event of a public health emergency.
  

Data/Statistics Resources for Local Health Department Staff

• New Jersey Center for Health Statistics - Data for Health Officers - Direct links to state/local data most often needed by local health departments.
  
  
• NJ State Health Assessment Data Query System - Interactive query system that provides users with customized tables and maps of New Jersey health data.
  
  
• Behavioral Risk Factors Surveillance System (BRFSS) - Data collected through annual telephone survey of New Jersey adults to monitor major behavioral risk factors and chronic conditions associated with disability and death.
  
  
• Healthy New Jersey 2010 - Health objectives for New Jersey for the decade 2001 - 2010.
  
  
• National Center for Health Statistics - CDC center providing national health data.
  
  
• Healthy People 2020 - National health objectives for 2010 – 2020.
  
  
  
• National Library of Medicine - Access to publications related to health.
  
  
  
• Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report - Weekly report from CDC of current public health issues and epidemiological data.