Assessing Capacity for Sustainability of Effective Programs and Policies in Local Health Departments

Context: Sustainability has been defined as the existence of structures and processes that allow a program to leverage resources to effectively implement and maintain evidence-based public health and is important in local health departments (LHDs) to retain the benefits of effective programs. Objective: Explore the applicability of the Program Sustainability Framework in high-and low-capacity LHDs as defined by national performance standards. Design: Case study interviews from June to July 2013. Standard qualitative methodology was used to code transcripts; codes were developed inductively and deductively. Setting: Six geographically diverse LHD's (selected from 3 of high and 3 of low capacity) Participants: 35 LHD practitioners. Main Outcome Measures: Thematic reports explored the 8 domains (Organizational Capacity, Program Adaptation, Program Evaluation, Communications, Strategic Planning, Funding Stability, Environmental Support, and Partnerships) of the Program Sustainability Framework. Results: High-capacity LHDs described having environmental support, while low-capacity LHDs reported this was lacking. Both high-and low-capacity LHDs described limited funding; however, high-capacity LHDs reported greater funding flexibility. Partnerships were important to high-and low-capacity LHDs, and both described building partnerships to sustain programming. Regarding organizational capacity, high-capacity LHDs reported better access to and support for adequate staff and staff training when compared with low-capacity LHDs. While high-capacity LHDs described integration of program evaluation into implementation and sustainability, low-capacity LHDs reported limited capacity for measurement specifically and evaluation generally. When high-capacity LHDs described program adoption, they discussed an opportunity to adapt and evaluate. Low-capacity LHDs struggled with programs requiring adaptation. High-capacity LHDs described higher quality communication than low-capacity LHDs. High-and low-capacity LHDs described strategic planning, but high-capacity LHDs reported efforts to integrate evidence-based public health. Conclusions: Investments in leadership support for improving organizational capacity, improvements in communication from the top of the organization, integrating program evaluation into implementation, and greater funding flexibility may enhance sustainability of evidence-based public health in LHDs.