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Obtaining a better understanding of the organizational and operational attributes of public health delivery systems is a critical step in elucidating pathways for improving public health services. This survey of local governmental public health agencies was conducted to that end, as part of a larger study designed to classify the structural characteristics of local public health delivery systems and to examine variation and change in these characteristics over time. In 1998 and again in 2006, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, and 2023 local governmental public health agencies serving populations of 100,000 residents or more were surveyed about 20 core public health activities devoted to public health assessment, policy development, and assurance.

For each activity, the survey instrument asked agency directors to report whether the activity was performed at all in the agency's jurisdiction and if so, which types of organizations were involved in performing the activity. Response options for the second item consisted of a pre-defined list of organization types, including hospitals, physician practices, health insurers, community health centers, educational institutions, community-based and faith-based organizations, state and local government agencies, and private businesses/employers. The instrument also asked what proportion of the total community effort for each activity was contributed by the local public health agency and asked how effectively the activity was performed.

This randomized controlled trial tested the efficacy of a virtual support health coaching intervention compared to a health information control group in improving self-care, decreasing stress, and improving coping and health status of informal caregivers of adults with heart failure. A secondary aim was to estimate intervention cost and cost-effectiveness. An exploratory aim was to explore the effect of caregiver outcomes on patient outcomes.

In September 2020, the Office of Population Affairs (OPA) funded an exploratory implementation and outcome study to understand the components of REAL Essentials Advance (REA), a popular relationship education program intended for youth in high school.

The REA study occurred over two school years (2021-22 and 2022-23) and involved 27 schools with a total of 1,301 youth participating in cohorts during spring and fall 2022. Each school implemented a different collection of lessons (a scope and sequence) from the REA program, and a total of 40 different scope and sequences were observed in the study. The expectation was that variation in student experiences of lessons across these scopes and sequences would produce variation in levels of outcome improvement (e.g., a school that primarily offered lessons that focused on emotional regulation would tend to show larger improvement in emotional regulation outcomes than a school that did not offer these lessons).

In the United States, tobacco smoking is associated with significant morbidity and premature mortality for individuals with serious mental illness (SMI) (e.g., schizophrenia, post-traumatic stress disorder, bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder). While many smokers with SMI wish to quit smoking, few are offered advice or treatments with demonstrated effectiveness in reducing tobacco dependence, primarily medication-assisted treatments. The overall aim of this randomized controlled trial was to test the effects of provider education (PE) (i.e. provider-level educational intervention focused on evidence-based smoking cessation treatment for those with SMI) and community health worker (CHW) support on the provision and utilization of smoking cessation treatment to those with SMI, and cessation rates for adults with SMI who smoke or use tobacco over a 2-year period. The objectives of this trial were to:

1. Examine whether an intervention combining PE and CHW support would increase prescriber provision of advice and assistance to quit smoking, and improve tobacco cessation rates in smokers with SMI compared to usual care/treatment as usual (TAU) and compared to PE-only treatment
2. Determine the effect of the combined PE+CHW intervention on patient-reported overall health compared to TAU and PE-only treatment

Eligible individuals were recruited from two outpatient psychiatric service providers in the Boston, Massachusetts metropolitan area. Clinics where individuals received services were randomized into either the TAU condition or into the PE condition, where health care providers would receive additional education on first-line medications used to treat tobacco use disorder. Within clinics in the PE arm, individuals were further randomized into the community health worker (CHW) support condition (PE+CHW), where CHWs would assist participants with smoking cessation care access and provide community outreach and education, or no CHW support (PE-only). Enrolled participants (n=1,010) completed surveys on smoking/tobacco use at 3 timepoints: study baseline, 1 year post-randomization, and 2 years post-randomization.

A mixed-methods evaluation of the trial was also conducted post-intervention, using an interactive convergent design. The aims of the evaluation were to identify barriers and facilitators to effective implementation; examine how primary care providers differed by performance and engagement level, and how experiences with the intervention compared across these groups; and identify anticipated barriers to implementing the intervention as discussed by stakeholders. Quantitative outcome and visit data from the trial were used in the evaluation. For the evaluation's qualitative component, interviews were conducted with purposively sampled community health workers, smoker participants, primary care providers, and other stakeholders in policy, payor, and clinical administration. Please note that the qualitative evaluation data are not available for this collection.

This data collection contains the TrainingFinder Real-time Affiliate Integrated Network (TRAIN) database dictionary and three data files derived from the TRAIN database. A project of the Public Health Foundation, TRAIN (www.train.org) is a comprehensive learning resource for public health professionals, such as epidemiologists, public health officials, health educators, environmental health professionals, social workers, nurses, physicians, emergency responders, and mental health providers. Learners can use TRAIN to search for on-site and distance learning courses, register on-line for courses, provide and view feedback about courses, and create a personal training record of competency-based training and continuing education requirements. Course providers can use TRAIN to publicize courses, manage online registration and student rosters, collect feedback from learners, and post course materials and discussion topics.

Core Competencies for Public Health Professionals is a set of skills, knowledge, and attitudes necessary for the broad practice of public health. Adopted by the Council on Linkages Between Academia and Public Health Practice, this list of competencies was incorporated into TRAIN.

Comprising a small subset of the information in the TRAIN database, the three data files were tailored to facilitate public health systems and services research. The first data file contains demographic information about every registered TRAIN learner: street address, county, city, state, ZIP code, country, education level, gender, race, Hispanic origin, birth date, primary language, and secondary language. The second data file is a tabulation which shows the core competencies covered by each course offered through TRAIN, together with the course titles, expiration dates, and the organizations offering the courses. The last data file is a tabulation which shows the number of TRAIN courses and learners by core competency and professional role.

The TRAIN database dictionary describes all of the variables in the TRAIN database, including those not provided with this data collection.

The purpose of the Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG) Program was to provide education and training to Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) recipients and other individuals with low incomes for occupations in the healthcare field that pay well and are expected to either experience labor shortages or be in high demand.

HPOG programs used the career pathways framework that combines education, occupational training, and support services to help participants enter and advance in a sequence of occupations within a specific sector or occupational cluster. Such programs seek to address many of the challenges that might prevent low-income and other disadvantaged adults from succeeding on a chosen pathway. For example, programs are flexible, with strong supports, and connect participants to employers and employment, including work-based learning opportunities. HPOG programs were expected to:

• target skills and competencies demanded by the healthcare industry
• support clearly defined career pathways
• result in an employer- or industry-recognized certificate or degree
• combine supportive services with education and training services to help participants overcome barriers to employment; and
• provide training and services at times and locations that are easily accessible to targeted populations.

Both rounds of HPOG funding were administered by the Office of Family Assistance (OFA) within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In 2010, OFA awarded a first round of five-year HPOG funding (HPOG 1.0) to 32 organizations located across 23 states. In 2015, OFA awarded a second round of HPOG funding (HPOG 2.0) to 32 organizations located across 21 states for a new five-year period.

Abt Associates and its partners conducted a National Evaluation of HPOG 2.0. The Abt research team (Abt) conducted in-depth interviews with program participants as part of the Descriptive Evaluation component of the National Evaluation. The goal of these in-depth interviews was to gain insights into the motivations, decision making, expectations, and experiences of HPOG 2.0 program participants. The sample included 153 program participants across 14 local HPOG 2.0 programs. Interviews were semi-structured and covered a common set of topics: career pathways; employment and education histories; experience of the HPOG 2.0 training; managing work, family, and training; and finances.

Quantitative data from HPOG 2.0 are available in ICPSR 38247.

This collection includes 10 focus group transcripts conducted with participants in Geisinger Health System's MyCode Community Health Initiative, an unselected biobank. Geisinger is a large, integrated health system in central and northeast Pennsylvania. Focus groups were conducted at clinics throughout the system's catchment area. Focus group participants were asked to discuss their views of the appropriateness of using their clinical and genomic data to study several phenotypes, including social and behavioral phenotypes.

The Forces of Change Survey is an annual survey completed by the state and territorial health agencies that comprise the membership of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO). ASTHO is the national nonprofit organization representing public health agencies in the United States, the U.S. territories and freely associated states, and the District of Columbia, and the over 100,000 public health professionals these agencies employ. The Forces of Change Survey primarily focuses on emergent and rapidly changing trends. The data collected sought to determine the current climate at state and territorial health agencies as it related to budget, workforce, accreditation, and special interest topics. The 2017 Forces of Change Survey examined the following topics:

• Health agency resources
• Activities related to the Zika virus
• Opioid epidemic response
• Communicating the value of public health
• Efforts to advance health equity

The web-based survey, fielded by ASTHO in May of 2017, was administered to state and territorial health agencies through their senior deputies. A total of 52 health agencies responded (from 46 states, Washington, D.C., and five territories and freely associated states). Data included as part of this collection includes one dataset with 122 variables for 52 cases.

This study consists of a two-group, randomized, controlled comparative effectiveness trial with 300 individuals from Appalachian Kentucky who do not have a primary care provider (and thus are not able to receive the standard of care without intercession) and who are at risk for CVD (cardiovascular disease) by virtue of having two or more modifiable CVD risk factors. The researchers compared (1) the standard of care alone, referral to a primary care provider for management of CVD risk factors, with (2) standard of care supplemented by patient-centered, culturally appropriate, self-care CVD risk reduction intervention (HeartHealth) designed to improve multiple CVD risk factors while overcoming barriers to success.

The researchers compared the 4 month (short-term) and 1 year (long-term) impact of the interventions on: 1) CVD risk factors selected by patients (i.e., tobacco use, blood pressure, lipid profile, HgA1c for diabetics, body mass index, waist circumference, depressive symptoms, or physical activity level); 2) all CVD risk factors for each patient; 3) quality of life; 4) patient and healthcare provider satisfaction; 5) desirability and adoptability by assessing adherence to recommended CVD risk reduction protocols, and retention of recruited individuals.

Demographic variables include gender, age, ethnicity, marital status, employment status, and level of education.

The Risk Factors for AIDS among Intravenous Drug Users study is an ongoing series of cross-sectional studies that recruits participants from a storefront research site and from one of New York City's largest detoxification facilities. The goal of the study was to assess the potential effectiveness of HIV interventions by examining participants' drug use, risk behavior, and AIDS prevention knowledge and activities.

The dataset combines survey responses taken from interviews conducted at the Bellevue Methadone Maintenance Treatment Program, the Beth Israel Medical Center and from a high drug use area in Lower East Side of Manhattan. All participants were at least 18 years of age or older. Participants from the Beth Israel Medical Center and the Lower East Side were given face-to-face interviews based on a World Health Organization Multi-Centre questionnaire. Data from the Bellevue Methadone Maintenance Treatment Program were extracted from patients' clinical files. Minimal demographic and HIV risk behavior were included in the methadone patient responses in these data to protect their anonymity. Blood samples were taken from participants to test for HIV.

These data also contain information on topics including participant demographics, alcohol use, drug use, substance abuse treatment, needle sharing habits, sexual behavior, social networks, HIV testing services, as well as mental and physical health. Drugs use explored in this study includes heroin, cocaine, crack, methadone, amphetamines, ice, tranquilizers, barbiturates and other drugs.

This dataset is public-use. A restricted-use version of the dataset is also available with the associated study number 35078. There are 2,907 respondents and 902 variables in the dataset.

The Risk Factors for AIDS among Intravenous Drug Users study is an ongoing series of cross-sectional studies that recruits participants from a storefront research site and from one of New York City's largest detoxification facilities. The goal of the study was to assess the potential effectiveness of HIV interventions by examining participants' drug use, risk behavior, and AIDS prevention knowledge and activities.

The dataset combines survey responses taken from interviews conducted at the Bellevue Methadone Maintenance Treatment Program, the Beth Israel Medical Center and from a high drug use area in Lower East Side of Manhattan. All participants were at least 18 years of age or older. Participants from the Beth Israel Medical Center and the Lower East Side were given face-to-face interviews based on a World Health Organization Multi-Centre questionnaire. Data from the Bellevue Methadone Maintenance Treatment Program were extracted from patients' clinical files. Minimal demographic and HIV risk behavior were included in the methadone patient responses in these data to protect their anonymity. Blood samples were taken from participants to test for HIV.

These data also contain information on topics including participant demographics, alcohol use, drug use, substance abuse treatment, needle sharing habits, sexual behavior, social networks, HIV testing services, as well as mental and physical health. Drugs use explored in this study includes heroin, cocaine, crack, methadone, amphetamines, ice, tranquilizers, barbiturates and other drugs.

There are 2,907 respondents and 906 variables in the dataset.

Since 1982, the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Europe has sponsored a cross-national, school-based study of health-related attitudes and behaviors of young people. These studies, generally known as Health Behavior in School-Aged Children (HBSC), are based on independent national surveys of school-aged children in more than 40 participating countries. The HBSC studies were conducted every four years since the 1985-1986 school year. The data available here are from the results of the United States survey conducted during the 2009-2010 school year. The files contain data on 12,642 students from 314 participating schools. Of the 314 participating schools a school administrator questionnaire was completed by 283 of them. The study results can be used as stand-alone data, or to compare with the other countries involved in the international HBSC.

The HBSC study has two main objectives. The first objective is to monitor health-risk behaviors and attitudes in youth over time to provide background data and to identify targets for health promotion initiatives. The second objective is to provide researchers with relevant information in order to understand and explain the development of health attitudes and behaviors through early adolescence.

The study contains questions dealing with many types of drugs such as tobacco, alcohol, marijuana, and other substances. Other topics include questions about family composition, the student's physical health, and other health behaviors and attitudes. Some of these topics include eating habits, dieting, physical activity, body image, health problems, and bullying. A school administrator also completed a survey concerning the school's programs and policies that affect students' health and the content of various health courses.

Asthma is one of the nation's most common and costly chronic conditions, affecting over 38 million Americans at some time in their lives. Managing asthma requires a long term, multifaceted approach, including patient education, behavior changes, asthma trigger avoidance, pharmacological therapy, and frequent medical follow-up. This study provides asthma data available at the state and local level to direct and evaluate interventions undertaken by asthma control programs located in the state health departments. Improved tracking for asthma is critical for planning and evaluating efforts to reduce the health burden from the disease.

The Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) is a state-based system of health surveys that collects information on health risk behaviors, preventive health practices, and health care access primarily related to chronic disease and injury. For many states, the BRFSS is the only available source of timely, accurate data on health-related behaviors. BRFSS was established in 1984 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); currently data are collected monthly in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, and Guam. More than 350,000 adults are interviewed each year, making the BRFSS the largest telephone health survey in the world. States use BRFSS data to identify emerging health problems, establish and track health objectives, and develop and evaluate public health policies and programs. The BRFSS is a cross-sectional telephone survey conducted by state health departments with technical and methodological assistance provided by CDC. States conduct monthly telephone surveillance using a standardized questionnaire to determine the distribution of risk behaviors and health practices among adults. Responses are forwarded to CDC, where the monthly data are aggregated for each state, returned with standard tabulations, and published at the year's end by each state. The BRFSS questionnaire was developed jointly by CDC's Behavioral Surveillance Branch (BSB) and the states. Data derived from the questionnaire provide health departments, public health officials, and policymakers with necessary behavioral information. When combined with mortality and morbidity statistics, these data enable public health officials to establish policies and priorities and to initiate and assess health promotion strategies. Demographic variables include race, age, sex, education level, marital status, employment status, and income level.

The Chicago Community Adult Health Study (CCAHS) consists of four interrelated components that were conducted simultaneously: (1) a survey of adult health on a probability sample of 3,105 Chicago adults, including direct physical measurements of their blood pressure and heart rate and of height, weight, waist and hip circumference, and leg length; (2) a biomedical supplement which collected blood and/or saliva samples on a subset of 661 survey respondents; (3) a community survey in which individuals described aspects of the social environment of all survey respondents' neighborhoods; and (4) a systematic social observation (SSO) of the blocks in which potential survey respondents resided, including a lost letter drop (Milgram et al. 1965) as an unobtrusive measure of neighborhood social capital/sense of responsibility to help others. The latter two extend a community survey and SSO of neighborhoods carried out by the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN) in 1995. The adult health survey and the community survey were conducted jointly through face-to-face interviews with a stratified, multistage probability sample of 3,105 individuals aged 18 and over and living in the city of Chicago, with a response rate of 72 percent that is about the highest currently attainable in large urban areas. In addition, blood pressure, heart rate, and physical measurements (of height, weight, waist and hips, and leg length) were collected during the survey interview, and blood and saliva samples from 661 respondents or 60 percent of those doing the survey in the 80 "focal" neighborhood clusters (NCs). SSOs were conducted on 1,663 of the 1,672 city blocks on which each respondent lived. The CCAHS is the largest of five projects under the NIH-funded Michigan Interdisciplinary Center on Social Inequalities, Mind and Body Mind (#P50HD38986), one of five Mind-Body Centers funded by the National Institutes of Health in late 1999. This study will advance the understanding of socioeconomic and racial/ethnic disparities in health, a major priority of the Public Health Service and the National Institutes of Health.

The PI-supplied summary mentions that the study is comprised of four components. However, for the purposes of this data release there are three distinct datasets. Demographic variables include age, birth year, race, ethnicity, number of children in the household, number of children living elsewhere, number of times the respondent has been married, and relationship status, religious preference, and sex.

Oral contraceptive (OC) users living in El Paso, Texas were interviewed to assess motivations for patronizing a United States clinic or a Mexican pharmacy with over-the-counter (OTC) pills and to determine which women were likely to use the OTC option. The experiences of OC users who obtained their contraception from Mexican pharmacies were compared with those of women who obtained their pills from family planning clinics in El Paso, Texas, where eligible low-income women often pay nothing. 532 clinic users and 514 pharmacy users were surveyed about background characteristics, motivations for choosing their oral contraception source, and satisfaction with this source. For more information, please see the Border Contraceptive Access Study website.

Prescription for Health was an initiative funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in collaboration with the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Under this initiative, primary care practice-based research networks (PBRNs) -- groups of ambulatory practices devoted principally to the primary care of patients -- developed, tested, and evaluated innovative strategies to improve the delivery and effectiveness of health behavior change services in primary care practice. The strategies targeted four health risk behaviors: tobacco use, unhealthy diet, lack of physical activity, and risky alcohol use. Prescription for Health was conducted in two rounds. Round one awarded grants to 17 PBRNs to test the feasibility of implementing the strategies, while round two awarded grants to ten PBRNs to measure the strategies' effectiveness and the expenses associated with them. More than a 100 primary care practices from the ten PBRNs participated in the evaluation.

This data collection comprises the data from one of the data collection efforts carried out by the second round: the responses to the Practice Information Form (PIF), a Web-based instrument which captured key organizational attributes of the participating practices. The PIF data were collected at two time points. Baseline data were collected from each practice before the intervention was implemented and follow-up data were collected approximately one year after the start of the intervention.

Information about the practices collected by the PIF include practice type and ownership; characteristics of each clinician and non-clinician staff person; number of vacancies for clinicians and non clinicians; number of exam rooms and volume of office visits; average number of new patients per month; percentages of patients in various age, race, Hispanic origin, and payer categories; and the predominant type of payment arrangement with health plans. In addition, the PIF asked whether a specific health plan controlled over half of the practice's total business; whether the practice had a pay-for-performance program; whether any payers or organizations publicly reported practice level performance information, such as patient satisfaction, chronic care/disease management, and/or preventive service delivery; and whether practices had a formal process for routinely measuring satisfaction among patients, clinicians, and other staff. The PIF also investigated how practices motivated their clinicians and staff; the level of competition among practices in local markets; the use of computers, electronic medical record systems, and patient registries; major changes that affected each practice's ability to make improvements in patient care; factors that prevented practices from translating the results of research into changes in medical practice; and the use of health risk assessment protocols or questionnaires to identify patients who may benefit from counseling or interventions. Questions about the four Prescription for Health behaviors -- physical activity, healthy eating, smoking cessation, and addressing risky drinking -- asked how practices linked patients to outside resources for each of the four behaviors; how practices used evidence-based guidelines and informed patients about recommendations for the behaviors; and which approaches practices used to support patients ready to engage in a behavior change for each of the behaviors.