The majority of the state Title V staff has been in MCH for five or more years.  Over 7 % have served for 10 years while 15% have served in their position for less than five years. One of the findings that came out of the FHU End of Year Conference SWOT analysis on capacity building was the need to provide further training efforts on several public health competencies such as: leadership and systems thinking, public health sciences, financial planning and management skills and community dimensions of practice.  Findings also revealed training needs specific for medical providers providing direct services for the MCH population.  Although the workforce of the Family Health Unit (FHU) is largely led by staff that have been in their positions for less than five years, we have a lot a wealth of support from the Director of Public Health who has been with the program for many years.  We also have nurses that have been with the program for over ten years that continue to guide the program.  Staff are actively looking for opportunities of growth, such as the MCH Epi training where our staff attended to further enhance her skills in our data reporting to our leadership.  Through the assistance of Pacific Island Health Officers Association (PIHOA), staff were able to participate in trainings such as ‘Data for Decision Making’ modules and this has created opportunities for staff to analyze, report and put forward manuscript for publication.

Title V program staff along with our counterparts in the clinic and nursery have received refresher trainings on the first embrace, nursery care and education, these trainings included safe sleep and breastfeeding.  In response to providing and promoting our services to clients that are not accessing our services and in providing information to those that have not heard of our program, all the programs under the Division of Primary and Preventive Health (Title V included) have established a collaborative outreach team that provides health education, screening, recruitment and counseling to individuals that are unable to access services at the various health centers.  This arrangement provides services and activities, eliminate duplication of efforts and ensures that those seeking information receive them effectively and efficiently. Recognizing limitations in funding, staff, expertise and reach, this arrangement aims to reduce the gap in the areas of service utilization, education, recruitment and community engagement participation.

To address the staffing shortage within the whole ministry, the Minister of Health developed a Health Assistants Training Program to further spark interest in the younger generation to take up careers in healthcare.  This year’s program there were 28 trainees and all of them successfully completed the training are undergoing internship in their respective chosen departments.  There are several promising clients that have been targeted to fill roles within the Bureau of Public Health as educators and a few to further pursue medicine as a field of study.  The program is fortunate to have one of the students in the program and will be paired with our educator as she travels to various communities during outreach activities.

The program currently faces the challenge of filling roles as three staff are nearing the end of their service tenure with the program in the areas of adolescent counseling, prenatal nutrition/education, home visitation and case coordination.  These are key roles in the delivery of service and coordination of efforts.  For a quick fix to the current situation while we look at possible avenues to respond to this, current staff are being tasked to undertake these roles while a long term solution is sought.  The program has been actively looking for possible replacements but have been largely unsuccessful.  This means that staff burnout is highly likely and the issue needs to be resolved as soon as possible.