March 2025: Accreditation’s Value, Impact, and Experiences

Posted on January 23, 2025 by Justin B. Moore

This entry is part 1 of 7 in the series Mar 2025

National public health accreditation is a critical process that seeks to improve the quality and performance of public health departments across the country. By adhering to a set of nationally recognized standards, these departments can ensure they are providing the highest level of service to their communities. Accreditation fosters a culture of continuous improvement, encouraging health departments to regularly assess and enhance their operations. This, in turn, leads to more effective and efficient public health services, which can better address the needs of the population and respond to emerging health challenges. Furthermore, accredited health departments are often better positioned to secure funding and resources, as they have demonstrated their commitment to excellence and accountability.

Beyond the operational benefits, national public health accreditation plays a vital role in building public trust and confidence in the health system. When communities see that their local health departments have met rigorous standards and are continually striving to improve, they are more likely to trust and engage with public health initiatives. This trust is essential for the successful implementation of health programs and policies, as community cooperation and participation are crucial for achieving positive health outcomes. Additionally, accreditation can facilitate stronger partnerships between health departments and other stakeholders, such as hospitals, schools, and community organizations, by providing a clear framework for collaboration and shared goals. In this way, national public health accreditation not only enhances the capabilities of individual health departments but also strengthens the overall health infrastructure, promoting a healthier and more resilient society.

March 2025: Accreditation: Value, Impact, and Experiences

The March issue of the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice features a special collection on accreditation, sponsored by the Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB). The collection includes articles on the value and impact of accreditation, supported by several impact evaluation studies.

Key studies and findings include:

Mary Davis and colleagues’ research, which shows that counties with accredited local health departments (LHDs) had lower COVID-19 death rates.
Tonni Oberly et al’s study on perspectives of state and local public health officials regarding accreditation mandates.
Peg Allen and coauthors’ descriptive qualitative study offering practical strategies for small health departments seeking reaccreditation or Pathways Recognition.
Matthew Fifolt and associates’ examination of Quality Improvement (QI) and Performance Management (PM) in small LHDs pursuing PHAB reaccreditation or Pathways Recognition.
Andrew Crenshaw et al’s article on health equity support and challenges for small LHDs working toward reaccreditation.
Ashlyn Burns and colleagues’ study on workforce gaps in LHDs pursuing accreditation.

Other notable articles in this issue include:

Amie Myrick and colleagues’ exploration of the intersection of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), substance use disorders (SUDs), and drug overdose.
Stephen Liu et al’s description of severe opioid overdose trends within a nationwide database of emergency department visits in the US.
Tori Cowger and colleagues’ practice report using wastewater data from 11 neighborhoods in Boston, MA, to categorize and communicate neighborhood-level SARS-CoV-2 levels and trends.

About the Author

Justin B. Moore: Justin B. Moore, PhD, MS, FACSM, is a Professor and Vice Chair in the Department of Implementation Science in the Division of Public Health Sciences at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine. He holds joint appointments in the departments of Family & Community Medicine and Epidemiology & Prevention. Dr. Moore also serves as the Director of Dissemination, Implementation, and Continuous Quality Improvement within the Clinical and Translational Science Institute at Wake Forest University. He conducts community-engaged research focused on the dissemination and implementation of evidence-based strategies for the promotion of healthy behaviors in underserved populations. He also conducts epidemiological research examining the determinants of health behaviors and related comorbidities across the lifespan. His research portfolio spans chronic diseases such a hypertension, obesity, and diabetes, and interventions to prevent or treat these conditions through physical activity, healthy eating, and related health behaviors. Serving as the Associate Editor of the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice (JPHMP) from 2007-2024, he assumed the role of Editor-in-Chief of JPHMP in January 2025. Previously, he served as Associate Editor-in-Chief for the Translational Journal of the American College of Sports Medicine and previously chaired the editorial board of the American Journal of Public Health. He is a member of the editorial boards of the journals Childhood Obesity, Obesities, Journal of Healthy Eating & Physical Activity, and the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity. Dr. Moore is an active member of the American Public Health Association (APHA) and the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM). He was named a fellow in the ACSM in 2010 and was a founding member of the Physical Activity Section of the APHA. He later served as the chair of the Physical Activity Section and as the Section’s representative on the APHA Governing Council. In 2017, he was named a fellow in the National Cancer Institute supported Mentored Training for Dissemination and Implementation Research in Cancer program. He has served as a visiting scholar at Nanchang University, located in Nanchang, Jiangxi, China, and Wuhan University, in Wuhan, Hubei, China. As a result of his research, he and his colleagues have published more than 200 peer-reviewed articles, and he has received funding as principal investigator for his work from the National Institutes of Health, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Duke Endowment, and the de Beaumont Foundation, among others.

Latest entries

tagged with featured, accreditation, March 2025