Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE. Lithuanian and international public health experts emphasize the importance of leadership in public health. The aim of this study was to explore the self-assessed level of leadership competencies of executives in Lithuanian public health institutions. MATERIAL AND METHODS. Data were collected in a cross-sectional survey of executives of Lithuanian public health institutions in 2010. The total number of returned questionnaires was 55 (response rate, 58.5%). Respondents were asked about their competencies in leadership, teamwork, communication, and conflict management. The evaluation was carried out by analyzing the answers provided in the survey, which used a 5-point rating scale. In addition, the Belbin Team-Role Self-Perception Inventory and the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument were used. RESULTS. The results showed that respondents were reserved or limited in their individual capacities through this evaluation of their leadership competencies. The mean score was 3.47 (SD, 0.71). Skills in competency areas of communication, teamwork, and conflict management were scored higher (3.73 [SD, 0.67], 3.73 [SD, 0.62], and 3.53 [SD, 0.63], respectively). Most of executives preferred to choose action-oriented roles (76.2%). The most common role was "implementer" (69.1%). "Avoiding" (52.7%) was the most common conflict solving strategy. The results showed that 89.1% of executives wanted to improve teamwork; 83.6%, leadership competencies; 81.8%, communication; and 80.0%, conflict management. CONCLUSIONS. The study results suggest that the executives of Lithuanian public health institutions evaluate their leadership competencies moderately. These results indicate the value of leadership training for public health executives.
Highlights
There has been the ongoing health system reform in Lithuania for 20 years
The original study questionnaire was developed by our research team. It was based on the several references, which emphasize the need of strong communication, teamwork, and conflict management competencies for public health managers [9,10,11, 15, 18]
The results showed that the executives were willing to improve their individual competencies: 89.1%, wanted to improve teamwork; 83.6%, leadership competencies; 81.8%, communication; and 80.0%, conflict management
Summary
In 1991, the Lithuanian Parliament (Seimas) approved the “National Concept of Health for Lithuania” [1]. This core political document underlined the main elements in the development of a new health care system in which a significant role has been delegated to the public health sector. Significant transformations in the public health sector started only in 2002, when the law on public health became the statute [4] This political blueprint separated the levels of public. The results show that most of Lithuanian public health executives prefer actionorientated roles (76.2%). We have observed some tendency that cerebral roles were more prevalent among executives who did not have qualifications in management compared with respondents who had formal management qualifications (13.9% and 5.3% respectively, P>0.05)
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