Essential Skills for Public Health Professionals Today

By Deborah Barkin Fromer, MPH, MT (ASCP)  |  08/16/2024

Public health professionals are dedicated to keeping us safe, healthy, and informed. Unfortunately, their work may go unnoticed until illnesses like COVID-19 and HIV/AIDS trigger a pandemic. Outbreaks like H5N1 (bird flu), measles, whooping cough, and monkey pox similarly shed some light on the work of public health professionals.  

Still, mitigating communicable diseases is just one of the matters public health organizations and individual professionals handle to address community health. Some of the public and community health challenges that the American Public Health Association currently recognizes include:

• Climate change and air pollution
• Food safety
• Obesity
• Substance abuse
• Non-communicable diseases
• Aging
• Racial health equity
• Gun violence
• Inadequate access to health systems
• Mental health

Solving these problems requires exceptional public health professionals with expertise in evidence-based research methods. Health practitioners must work together with government agencies to develop policies that keep communities safe, healthy, and informed. Accordingly, there are several specialized skills everyone in public health should master.

Communication Skills

In public health, communication is at the center of nearly everything you do. It is the key to keeping people properly informed about potential health threats.

Effective communication also helps keep community members safe by raising awareness of important healthy behaviors to adopt. Health practitioners often rely on strong communication skills to develop public health campaigns and public safety announcements (PSAs).

One example of a successful campaign is “Get Yourself Tested.” The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) originally launched this campaign in 2009. At the time, there was a rise in sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) among young people.

Alternatively, the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 serves as an example of poor health communication. Unclear messaging caused confusion about whether face masks were effective at decreasing the spread of the coronavirus. Ultimately, shifts in the scientific community’s understanding of the disease caused the CDC to change its position over time.

I have witnessed the impact of communication skills on a smaller scale as well. In 2007, my county identified community swimming pools as the source of a cryptosporidium outbreak. Evidently, the public was not aware of proper pool hygiene. 

Health officials rapidly disseminated prevention-focused messaging through the media via newspapers, radio, and televised reports. Officials also notified local physicians, pool managers, and day care center employees of the increased potential for cryptosporidiosis cases. The outbreak soon resolved, though pools were also closing at this time since it was the end of the summer.

Nonetheless, effective communication enables health officials to prevent the spread of illness and minimize damage when an outbreak occurs. The COVID-19 pandemic specifically revealed the importance of public health communications in:

• Policy development
• Contingency planning
• Community engagement
• Program planning
• Behavior changes

Verbal Communication

Explaining information clearly requires strong verbal communication skills, which include both speaking and active listening. Active listening involves paying attention to body language (if in-person or on a video call) and other non-verbal cues like eye contact. Together, these practices help reduce the chances of listeners and speakers misunderstanding each other.

Whenever I interviewed patients and family members with vaccine-preventable illnesses, I needed to confirm they understood everything we discussed.

First, I would identify who might need testing or a booster vaccine, for example. I would also explain whether anybody in the family should stay home from daycare, work, or school.

At the end of the interview, I'd say my memory was “off” that day and I wasn't sure if I'd covered everything. Then, I would ask the family to repeat back to me what I said needed to be done, which helped me ensure my listeners paid attention. Finally, I thanked everyone, and no one was ever offended.

Written Communication

If you write well, you are less likely to be misunderstood. Many times, a specific point comes across more effectively in an email or text rather than during a phone call or in person. Documentation is also helpful because people have something to refer to when they need to recall details.

Written communications – especially for policy development and key stakeholders – should be concise, organized, and logical. Messages and documents should never include acronyms, jargon, or any culturally insensitive content. In some cases, photographs and illustrations help provide valuable context to readers.

In fact, pictures worked especially well during the Zika virus outbreak in 2016. Posters in NYC subway stations showed mosquitoes covered with large X's alongside pregnant bellies and accompanying written information. Even without reading the text, subway riders could make the connection between mosquitos and the harm they posed to pregnant women.

Social Media Communication

Collectively, social media platforms represent a powerful communication tool. These platforms make health information available and accessible very quickly, which can be both good and bad, and require good program planning skills.

For example, my county’s public health department suddenly received an alarming number of calls from panicking parents and teachers in 2009. The callers were concerned about a middle-school child who had the H1N1 (swine flu) virus. The child, along with his sibling, posted about his illness on Facebook and created chaos.

This adolescent had the first positive H1N1 case in the state. It took countless resources – including dedicated hotlines, healthcare providers, and communications professionals – to restore calm within the community.

Empathy

If you want to analyze cases pertaining to a disease outbreak, you need to first understand how the affected patients feel. You need to develop empathy. 

Memorize patients’ names and be friendly. A smile is always in style and goes a long way in connecting with others.

Put yourself in the patients’ shoes. Imagine how a grandmother might feel upon learning that a chronic “annoying tickle” in her throat may have infected her newborn grandchild with whooping cough. Consider how you would react in her position and proceed accordingly.

Trustworthiness

Knowing how to establish trust is one of the most important leadership skills a public health professional can have. When people don’t trust you, they will not engage in public health education. Without trust, people ignore warnings and recommendations that could save lives.

Health officials must also gather sensitive patient information when outbreaks occur. If folks have doubts as to whether their confidential information is secure, however, they will not cooperate.

Public health encompasses everything from contaminated food and products to extreme weather and the next pandemic. We simply cannot protect community health from this broad scope of threats unless people trust us.

Attention to Detail

When you pay attention to detail, people feel understood and know that you care. Working in public health also requires thoughtful analysis. Turning a blind eye to seemingly insignificant details could lead to serious repercussions.

For example, I was once part of a team that investigated a measles outbreak. A young waitress who tested positive said she contracted the illness from an “older man” she dated named Joe. 

We couldn’t find Joe until someone realized that “older” to the young waitress was around age 30. We were previously looking for a person over 50. After accounting for the age of the waitress – an important detail – we found Joe.

Leadership

You may not have direct reports or be the public health program manager, but you can always be a leader. Leaders focus on serving their communities, rather than acting in a self-serving manner. At times, they may need to participate in defending public health policies, encourage the development of community partnership skills, and mobilize communities.

As a leader, you must have a vision for your public health program and your organization’s performance. You should be skillful at influencing others to believe in your vision. Great leaders also know how to bring out the best in others. Many public health skills overlap with the qualities that define strong, competent leaders.

Critical Thinking and Assessment Skills

Health officials need to weigh evidence and make decisions quickly for their communities, especially for areas with health inequities.  If a child tests positive for measles, we need to determine how and when to notify schools, daycare centers, and environmental health agencies. 

Does the sick child’s family need to quarantine? Has the child recently been on a flight? These are just some examples of the types of questions health personnel must consider.

Patience  

Taking the time to listen and pay attention shows level-headed thinking and helps create rapport with others. For example, when investigating an outbreak, you may interview somebody who struggles to remember key details. Always give people ample time to respond to all your questions.

Folks may not immediately recall where they were, what they ate, or who they had contact with while they were sick. Nonetheless, you must maintain a friendly and patient demeanor to encourage people to cooperate as you assess an outbreak.

Creativity

Creativity gives you a major advantage when it comes to solving problems and implementing strategies as a public health professional. In fact, my former public health department employed their own creativity once to solve a fairly substantial problem.

Medical providers not reporting contagious illness cases to us in a timely manner. We knew these providers each had a list of the illnesses that public health practitioners were mandated to report. We also knew this list was printed on a forgettable white sheet of paper with black ink.

We decided to create a colorful poster instead and sent copies to daycares, schools, and healthcare providers. That creativity went a long way toward helping people to understand why it’s so important to report contagious illnesses quickly.

Data Analysis

Public health programs collect and interpret a lot of data. Don't be afraid of numbers. I didn’t always love them, but then I saw the value of data analytics. When we interpret data, we can identify trends that may show early warning signs of an illness or outbreak.

Business Management and Finance Skills

Business management skills are core competencies in the public health field. Despite the essential services public health departments provide, personnel often work with limited financial resources. Consequently, solving and improving public health issues requires careful management, good financial planning, and strategic program planning.

Passion

We all benefit, both directly and indirectly, from the work of public health professionals every day. We shower and brush our teeth with clean water. We eat foods we know are safe. We wear seat belts. We monitor our air quality and track climate change.

Public health officials fight to protect us from the dangers of smoking, obesity, and heart disease. These officials also spearhead initiatives to combat and remedy the over-use of alcohol and other harmful substances.

At the same time, professionals in the public health sciences work to continue supporting our communities’ well-being. Our priorities in the public health field currently span a broad range of issues. For example, we strive to improve the general public’s mental health and mitigate gun violence.

Naturally, a role in public health can be incredibly satisfying. This field requires not only public health skills, but also passion and a desire to influence positive change. Public health professionals who go above and beyond truly make the world a better place. 

Public Health Degrees at American Military University

If you have a passion for helping others or seek to improve your professional development, consider pursing a public health degree at American Military University (AMU). Students at AMU develop their public health sciences skills as they gain the core competencies necessary to support community health. Learn how to help improve health equity in our country and guide others to implement healthy lifestyles.

AMU offers three public health degrees:

• An online associate of science in public health
• An online bachelor of science in public health
• An online Master of Public Health (MPH)

Whether you are a seasoned healthcare professional or just starting out in the field, AMU’s online programs offer enriching learning opportunities. Faculty members bring real-world experience from governmental public health roles to the virtual classroom.

Courses start monthly. Visit our program page to learn more about studying public health at AMU.