OBJECTIVES: The healthcare landscape is challenged by emerging and severe public health threats, and fast shifting priorities. There is an urgent need to build public health workforce capacity to enable rapid adaptation and effective responses to these threats. We outline a whole system's learning approach for analyzing public health systems in collaboration with public health leaders.

METHODS: The project included: i) a system's analysis involving a cross-sectional mixed methods approach including a quantitative investigation, interviews and focus groups of leading representatives and students from five higher education institutions providing public health training, 49 managers, and 31 stakeholders from lead public health organizations; ii) develop and implement training interventions, involving human factors tools for evaluating and developing actionable solutions.

RESULTS: We developed and implemented three interventions: 1) An online user interface for public health professional development and collaboration; 2) A Public Health Leadership Academy; and 3) A video outreach to key stakeholders and communities using studies.

CONCLUSION: A holistic perspective incorporating human factors, and a systems approach provided a comprehensive understanding and approch towards the public health workforce while identifying leverage points for durable improvement.

The role of nurses in identifying and responding to family violence and violence against women has long been established. However, nurses’ readiness to fully assume this role remains low due to various barriers and the sensitive nature of the subject. As part of capacity building to address this problem, an additional national qualitative learning target, i.e., to “show knowledge about men’s violence against women and violence in close relationships”, was introduced into the Swedish Higher Education Ordinance for nursing and seven other educational programs between 2017 and 2018. The aim of this paper is to describe how the national qualitative learning target is incorporated into the undergraduate nursing curriculum at the Swedish Red Cross University College. An overview of relevant teaching and learning activities and how they are organized is first presented, followed by the presentation of a proposed didactic model: Dare to Ask and Act! The model details a step-by-step progression from facts and figures, including the role of gender norms, to recognizing signs of abuse in complex clinical situations, as well as developing skills that enhance the courage to ask and act. Due to the sensitive nature of violence victimization, the proposed model reflects the importance of making the subject a reoccurring theme in undergraduate nursing education in order to boost nursing students’ interests and confidence to “Dare to Ask and Act!”. The model also shows that making the subject a recurring theme can be achieved with minimal disruptions to and without overcrowding an existing curriculum.

Introduction We examined the perceptions of the Master of Public Health (MPH) degree graduates regarding their personal competencies, job performance and professional development using a mixed method, explanatory sequential design.Methods A cross-sectional, self-administered questionnaire of the Haifa School of Public Health alumni who graduated between 2005 and 2022 was disseminated to 849 graduates between March and June 2022, from which 127 responded (response rate: 14.90%). This was followed by 24 in-depth interviews with alumni from the same sample (conducted between November 2022 and March 2023).Results The sample included 74.8% of females with a mean age of 40.7 years, 35% of alumni agreed that the MPH degree helped them attain a promotion in their present position (in rank or salary), and 63.8% felt that the degree helped them improve their job performance and contribute to their current workplace. Most (80.3%) alumni reported not changing jobs after graduation. The interview themes revealed that the MPH contributed to their personal and professional lives, provided them with a holistic view of public health and health systems, and improved their in-depth scientific skills. The main reported barriers to professional development included missing core competencies, low salaries, and a lack of information regarding suitable jobs. Surprisingly, an MPH was not a requirement for some public health sector jobs. Alumni reported that the MPH degree contributed to improving many graduates' careers and satisfaction levels and to build their leadership competencies in public health.Discussion There seems to be a lack of coordination between the academic curriculum and the jobs available for alumni, hindering better alumni professional development. Regular discussions, information sharing, and curriculum refinements between MPH program leaders and health sector leaders might help address many of the concerns of MPH degree graduates.

Genetic studies and analysis of artefacts, archaeology, oral history, cultural practices, and language seem to suggest that far from the popular portrayal as oppressed and marginalized, precolonial African women were visible and played key sociopolitical roles. While Africa is not homogenous in terms of cultural practices, evidence suggest that in many African societies, women were active in trade, commerce, agriculture, pottery, and metal production e.g., in West, and Southern Africa. Precolonial African women fought and led wars and had their own armies like the Amazons of Dahomey.

Across various communities in Ghana, Namibia, South Africa, matriclans existed alongside Patriclans and have survived till date. Although patriarchy is still very visible, it seems many pre-colonial African societies had traditional practices that promoted gender equilibrium. Examples of such practices include the existence of several centers of authority in which women were present (e.g., the Umuada system of Eastern Nigeria); the recognition of non-binary gender (e.g., in some parts of East Africa); and the existence of non-binary gender roles such as female husbands, and male daughters (still practiced in parts of East and West Africa). 

In the geographical area known today as Nigeria, women were active in establishing kingdoms as found in Ondo and Daura, they were also known for long distance trade rising to become Iyalode and Iyaloja, two positions of power practiced among the Yorubas of Nigeria. The legend of powerful Queens who fought hard to protect their Kingdoms include Queen Moremi of Ile-Ife and Queen Amina of Zaria, who like Queen Idia of Bini Kingdom, led several wars. Among the Binis and Yorubas, the Queen mother remains a revered position of influence and power, and in many parts of Nigeria, women still have their own chieftaincy societies which contribute to governance and development and are a force to be reckoned with, an example is the Odu society of the Onitsha people. Practices like “sitting-on-a-man”, fines, exile or being made an outcast were tools for addressing sexism, oppression of women, and various crimes against women such as rape (e.g., among the Igbos). 

Unfortunately, colonialism and the introduction of new religions with strict views on women, such as Christianity and Islam, changed the status quo for women. Three case studies are presented, one is the 1929 Aba women war, a women-led protest against colonial taxation and solely based on the tradition of sitting-on-a-man. The other two case studies are taken from Chinua Achebe’s Things fall apart and address how male perpetrators of domestic violence were perceived. Against the backdrop of an analysis of old-fashioned female names of endearment and protection commonly given to women by fathers and husbands, traditional practices targeted at women are discussed through the lens of what the ancestors likely intended to achieve. These traditional practices like test of virginity, female genital mutilation, bride price, widowhood practices, land acquisition and inheritance, wife inheritance and many others are critically examined and discussed. The need to keep the good, eliminate the bad, and where necessary, beautify the ugly is emphasized.

Many organisations recently instructed employees to work from home due to lockdowns and restrictions put in place to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the unprecedented increase in intimate partner violence (IPV) during the same period have raised concerns about women’s risk of exposure to IPV when the home and workplace overlap during work-at-home instances. IPV is a global public health problem that negatively affects the health, safety, and productivity of victims and co-workers through various mechanisms. While IPV awareness and policies have developed slowly from an occupational health perspective, the workplace remains crucial in identifying, responding to, and offering support to victims. Thus, as part of preparing for future pandemics and considering that working at home has become the new normal, the overlap between home and the workplace cannot be ignored. This chapter discusses the role of employers and how existing guidelines about employers’ response to IPV can be applied when staff work from home.

Background: Successful management of public health challenges requires developing and nurturing leadership competencies. We aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of training simulations to assess public health leadership and decision-making competencies during emergencies as an effective learning and training method.

Methods: We examined the effects of two simulation scenarios on public health school students in terms of their experience (compared to face-to-face learning) and new skills acquired for dealing with similar emergent situations in the future. A mixed-methods design included developing a validated and pre-tested questionnaire with open-and closed-ended questions that examined the simulation impact and the degree of student satisfaction with the conditions in which it was conducted. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with the students after going through the simulations. The questionnaire results were evaluated using descriptive analytics. The interviews were analyzed using thematic analyses. All data were collected during June 2022.

Results: The questionnaire results indicate that students strengthened their interpersonal communication skills and learned about the importance of listening to the opinions of others before formulating their positions. Four themes emerged from 16 in-depth interviews, according to Kolb’s experimental learning cycle. Students emphasized the effectiveness of experiential learning versus traditional classroom learning. The simulation scenarios were felt to realistically convey critical issues regarding leadership, decision-making, and teamwork challenges. They effectively conveyed the importance of building a culture of conducting substantive and respectful discussions.

Conclusion: Simulation is a powerful pedagogical training tool for public health leadership competencies. Simulations were seen to be advantageous over face-to-face learning in imparting a range of leadership skills and hands-on practice. We recommend integrating simulations in all public health leadership training programs.

The global COVID-19 crisis exposed the critical need for a highly qualified public health workforce. This qualitative research aimed to examine public health workforce competencies needed to face COVID-19 challenges and identify the gaps between training programs and the competency demands of real-world disasters and pandemics. Through a sample of thirty-one participant qualitative interviews, we examined the perspectives of diverse stakeholders from lead public health organizations in Israel. Grounded Theory was used to analyze the data. Six themes emerged from the content analysis: public health workforce's low professional status and the uncertain future of the public health workforce; links between the community and Higher Education institutions; the centrality of communication competencies; need to improve health promotion; the role of leadership, management, and partnership, and innovation in public health coherence. Increasing the attractiveness of the profession, professional and financial support, and improving the working conditions to ensure a sustainable and resilient PH system were deemed necessary. This paper describes and cultivates new knowledge and leadership skills among public health professionals, and lays the groundwork for future public health leadership preparedness programs.

Background: A significant proportion of the global population is displaced, many being women. Qualitative studies can generate in-depth findings that will contribute to an understanding of their experiences, but there is a need for further synthetization efforts. The aim was to provide a comprehensive perspective about adult women's experiences of armed conflicts and forced migration, focusing on women in or from countries in the Middle East, Balkans, or Africa.

Methods: Systematic review of English reports presenting empirical qualitative studies published in scientific journals 1980 or later, utilizing searches performed in September 2021 within three databases combined with manual screening. Of the 3 800 records screened in total, 26 were included. Methodological details and quality were appraised using pre-specified extraction and appraisal tools. The findings within the included reports were analyzed with thematic analysis.

Results: Most reports utilized interviews, including in total 494 participants, and were appraised as having insignificant methodological limitations. The first theme concerns changed living conditions, involving reduced safety, insufficient access to resources meeting basic needs, forced migration as a last resort, and some positive effects. The second theme concerns the experienced health-related consequences, involving psychological distress, risks during pregnancy and childbirth, exposure to violence and discrimination as a woman, as well as a lack of adequate healthcare services and social support. The third theme concerns the resources and strategies that enhance resilience, involving social support and family life, as well as utilization of internal resources and strategies.

Conclusion: When experiencing armed conflicts and forced migration, women face significant challenges related to changed living conditions and are exposed to health-related consequences. Consistently, women are targets of severe structural and personal violence, while lacking access to even the most basic healthcare services. Despite facing considerable hardships, these women display extraordinary resilience and endurance by finding strength through social support and internal resources. Synthesized qualitative research illustrates that women value social support, including peer support, which is a promising intervention that needs to be evaluated in future experimental studies.