ACROSS-CULTURAL ADAPTATION OF A PUBLIC HEALTH LEADERSHIP COMPETENCY FRAMEWORK IN ALBANIA

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The aim of our study was to validate an international instrument addressing the leadership competency level of public health professionals in Albania, a post-communist country in the Western Balkans. METHODS: A sample of 53 public health professionals operating at different levels were interviewed twice in May 2014 in Tirana (25 men and 28 women; median age: 44 years, inter-quartile range: 35-55 years). A structured questionnaire was administered [and subsequently re-administered after two weeks (test-retest)] to all participants aiming at self-assessing the current level of leadership competencies and the required/desirable level of leadership competencies for their current job position. The questionnaire included 52 items organized into 8 subscales/domains. Answers for each item of the tool ranged from 1 (“minimal competency level”) to 5 (“maximal competency level”). An overall summary score (range: 52-260) and a subscale summary score for each domain were calculated for the test and the retest procedures. Cronbach’s alpha was used to assess the internal consistency for both the test and the retest procedures, whereas Spearman’s rho was employed to assess the test-retest reliability of the instrument. RESULTS: Cronbach’s alpha was 0.89 for the test and 0.86 for the retest procedure. Overall, Spearman’s rho was 0.97 (P CONCLUSION: We validated in the Albanian context a recently established international framework which measures the level of the current leadership competencies possessed by public health professionals, as well as the required level of leadership competencies for their current job position. Future research should apply this instrument to a large representative sample of public health professionals at different levels and in different regions of Albania. Keywords: competency, cross-cultural adaptation, framework, leadership, validation.