Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge the dedication of the Directors of Health Promotion and Education (DHPE) in supporting this curriculum.
DHPE was founded in 1946 as a professional association for public health promotion practitioners and health educators. The organization was an early leader in recognizing the importance of health policy and systems change for improving the health of everyone. (Download their 2001 monograph, Policy and Environmental Change: New Directions for Public Health.)
DHPE supported the authors’ 2003-2004 research to develop professional competencies needed by public health workers to succeed in influencing governance and organizational systems. The authors then used the competencies to write and pilot an early version of a training curriculum from 2006 – 2008 (formerly known as Shaping Policy for HealthTM). The author’s wrote the current Systems Change for Health curriculum from 2007 through 2014.
To distribute the curriculum, DHPE developed a national training program that included a program management data system; graphic designs for training and promotional materials; and recruitment and marketing expertise. Through November 2017, DHPE provided training in over 40 states to more than 7,800 state, local, and federal public health personnel, as well as community coalition members.