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X-WR-CALNAME:DrPH Dissertation: Joel Stanojevich
X-WR-TIMEZONE:Eastern Time (US & Canada)
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DTSTAMP:20260809T200219Z
UID:tag:localist.com\,2008:EventInstance_53188644664910
DTSTART:20260710T120000Z
DTEND:20260710T133000Z
DESCRIPTION:Dissertation Title: National Public Health Institutes and Healt
 h Communications: A Rapid Assessment of the Health Communication System at
  the National Center for Disease Control and Public Health in the Country 
 of Georgia\n\nDissertation Chair: Dr. Harry Heiman\n\nDissertation Abstrac
 t: \n\nBackground: Effective health communication is a core public health 
 capacity\, yet existing assessment frameworks often emphasize emergency me
 ssaging outputs rather than the organizational structures required to sust
 ain high-quality communication during both routine and crisis conditions. 
 This dissertation examines how national public health agencies can assess 
 and strengthen organizational capacity for health communication\, using th
 e National Center for Disease Control and Public Health of Georgia as a ca
 se study. The study responds to gaps identified in global standards and to
 ols\, including the Joint External Evaluation\, States Parties Self-Assess
 ment Annual Reporting tool\, International Health Regulations benchmarks\,
  Public Health Accreditation Board standards\, SBCC Capacity Assessment To
 ol\, and the Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication framework. Together\,
  these frameworks provide strong guidance on risk communication\, communit
 y engagement\, and emergency messaging\, but give less explicit attention 
 to internal governance\, staffing\, budgets\, workflows\, infodemic manage
 ment infrastructure\, and cross-unit coordination.\n\nMethods: The study u
 sed a rapid mixed-method organizational assessment design. An a-priori cod
 ebook was developed from five health communication domains: health communi
 cation program\; guidelines and standard operating procedures\; infrastruc
 ture\, materials\, and supplies\; health communication practices\; and hea
 lth communication coordination. Data were collected through key informant 
 interviews and document review at Georgia’s NCDC and coded using a 0–3
  maturity ladder\, where 0 indicated no evidence or absent capacity\, 1 in
 dicated emerging or ad hoc capacity\, 2 indicated documented and operation
 al capacity\, and 3 indicated institutionalized and routinely reviewed cap
 acity.\n\nResults: Findings indicate that Georgia has important health com
 munication assets\, including experienced spokespersons\, emergency commun
 ication structures linked to incident management\, partner relationships\,
  program-level communication activities\, and evidence of multichannel dis
 semination during major responses. However\, the assessment also identifie
 d persistent structural gaps. Overall maturity was low\, with most coded i
 tems scoring at level 0 or 1. The strongest areas were partner and NGO lia
 ison\, spokesperson capacity\, and some emergency communication procedures
 . The weakest areas were dedicated strategy and budget\, social listening 
 and infodemic management tools\, systematic message-development procedures
 \, communication evaluation\, and internal coordination across NCDC units.
 \n\nConclusion: The dissertation concludes that sustainable health communi
 cation capacity depends on institutionalized structures\, not only skilled
  individuals or crisis-specific practices. A structure-focused assessment 
 module can complement existing global tools by identifying actionable orga
 nizational gaps and supporting investment in governance\, workforce\, coor
 dination\, and infodemic management systems.
LOCATION:
SUMMARY:DrPH Dissertation: Joel Stanojevich
URL;VALUE=URI:https://calendar.gsu.edu/event/drph-dissertation-joel-stanoje
 vich
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