Abstract
BackgroundRecent international and national events have brought critical attention to the Canadian public health system and how prepared the system is to respond to various types of contemporary public health threats. This article describes the study design and methods being used to conduct a systems-level analysis of public health preparedness in the province of Alberta, Canada. The project is being funded under the Health Research Fund, Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research.Methods/DesignWe use an embedded, multiple-case study design, integrating qualitative and quantitative methods to measure empirically the degree of inter-organizational coordination existing among public health agencies in Alberta, Canada. We situate our measures of inter-organizational network ties within a systems-level framework to assess the relative influence of inter-organizational ties, individual organizational attributes, and institutional environmental features on public health preparedness. The relative contribution of each component is examined for two potential public health threats: pandemic influenza and West Nile virus.DiscussionThe organizational dimensions of public health preparedness depend on a complex mix of individual organizational characteristics, inter-agency relationships, and institutional environmental factors. Our study is designed to discriminate among these different system components and assess the independent influence of each on the other, as well as the overall level of public health preparedness in Alberta. While all agree that competent organizations and functioning networks are important components of public health preparedness, this study is one of the first to use formal network analysis to study the role of inter-agency networks in the development of prepared public health systems.
Highlights
Recent international and national events have brought critical attention to the Canadian public health system and how prepared the system is to respond to various types of contemporary public health threats
The organizational dimensions of public health preparedness depend on a complex mix of individual organizational characteristics, inter-agency relationships, and institutional environmental factors
Our study is designed to discriminate among these different system components and assess the independent influence of each on the other, as well as the overall level of public health preparedness in Alberta
Summary
The capacity of any organization to be prepared for a public health threat is influenced in part by the system in which the organization is located, just as the preparedness of the overall system can be influenced by the strengths and weaknesses of any single organization. The cross-case and intra-provincial comparative design allows our research to discriminate among different system elements and examine the independent influence of organizational attributes, institutional environments, and inter-organizational networks on public health preparedness. The mixed methods approach enables our research to analyse the role of both informal and formal relationships in the emergence of inter-organization networks and the development of prepared and responsive public health systems. As far as we are aware, our project is one of the first to assess public health preparedness at the systemslevel while accounting for the critical role that inter-organizational relationships play in the emergence of a cohesive and responsive system. 4. Provincial Government of Alberta, Alberta Queen's Printer: Public Health Act [http://www.gov.ab.ca/qp].
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