Visuomenės sveikatos biuruose dirbančių specialistų visuomenės sveikatos politikos žinių vertinimas ir tobulinimo poreikis

Abstract

In this article, an overview of the findings of the survey 2012 among public health professionals working in public health bureau is presented. The survey was aimed at finding out how professionals working in public health bureau assess their knowledge in various areas of public health and what knowledge associated with implementation of public health policies they would like to improve. The survey involved 51 specialists. The answers to the questionnaire were received from all public health bureau functioning in Lithuania at that time. According to the survey, „healthy lifestyle events organization” was the top rated area which the professionals were most knowledgeable about out of 16 listed, whereas Management Basics and Health Economics were reported as the weakest knowledge areas. Health Communication (external - communication with media methods) was the area that needed improvement most, followed by: methods of practical implementation of state public health programmes and programme/project development. Most favoured forms of training were: seminars and specialized courses for public health professionals as well as thematic conferences. Recommendations: In order to strengthen specific competencies of professionals, which they require in daily work, it is necessary to provide training in communications, public relations and project/programme management.