SOUTH CAROLINA TURNING POINT NATIONAL EXCELLENCE COLLABORATIVES
In 2002, the Turning Point initiative was awarded two National Excellence Collaboratives, Leadership Development and Information Technology. South Carolina received a Four-Year $150,000 grant for each National Excellence Collaborative.
Leadership Development
The leadership development collaborative is of interest to South Carolina because the recommendations developed through the state's own 1997-1999 Turning Point planning process emphasize the involvement of not only recognized health leaders, but also drawing upon the wisdom of local communities and the expertise of the private sector in improving systems that affect the public's health. The workgroup which developed the Turning Point workforce recommendations included staff from a number of health and human service agencies, the University of South Carolina School of Public Health, and other representatives with specific interest and expertise in workforce issues. The need for collaborative leadership skills and public health competencies was identified as a cross cutting issue and led to strong and specific recommendations.
The South Carolina Turning Point Leadership Development Collaborative will ensure that Collaborative Leadership is used to achieve policy and systems change in order to improve public health. This involves the participation of many local, state, and community leaders across all levels. The Leadership Development Collaborative strives to introduce collaborative leadership skills and approaches into training and to track successes in terms of building sustainable community capacity for improving health and increasing the understanding of and support for public health in communities, states, and the nation ( http://www.turningpointprogram.org/Pages/developlead.html ).
SC Turning Point LD Progress
Currently, South Carolina Turning Point is coordinating with several partners to produce six Collaborative Leadership videos for instruction. Each video is 6-8 minutes each and each video illustrates a different component of Collaborative Leadership. This project should be completed by November 2003.
Video 1 Topic: Collaborative Leadership: An Overview
Video 2 Topic: Qualities of a Collaborative Leader
Video 3 Topic: Building Trust and Commitment
Video 4 Topic: Power and Control
Video 5 Topic: Cultivating Respect and Creating Safety
Video 6 Topic: Living with Uncertainty and Taking Perspective
Information Technology
This collaborative is of interest to South Carolina because one section of the recommendations developed through the state's own 1997-1999 Turning Point planning process is devoted to the need for improved information resources and technology. A priority was how to provide data as information to local communities so community health improvement planners had the information they needed to direct their planning efforts, set priorities and monitor progress. Although South Carolina is fortunate to have a data center (Office of Research & Statistics) that has linked demographic, health, and human services data from many sources, much of this information is not available to communities, it is not timely, it is not linked, or it is not in a form communities can easily use. South Carolina has the ability to link and GIS map a great deal of data, being attentive to issues of confidentiality, but this has not been actualized.
The South Carolina Turning Point Information Technology Collaborative strives to assess, evaluate, and recommend to national policy-makers innovative ways to improve the nation's public health infrastructure by utilizing information technology to effectively collect, analyze, and disseminate information; by improving data access and community participation for making public health decisions; and by enhancing the performance of the public health system through the use of information technology ( http://www.turningpointprogram.org/Pages/infotech.html ).
SC Turning Point IT Progress
The Turning Point initiative is currently involved in the assessment phase of the National Excellence Collaborative. Surveys have been collected regarding the use of local health department information technology across the United States. South Carolina Turning Point is planning to assist with identifying what follow up questions to ask and who should answer the questions.
