Advisory Committee Chair
Nir Menachemi
Advisory Committee Members
Leslie M Beitsch
Peter M Ginter
Grant T Savage
Biskha Sen
Document Type
Dissertation
Date of Award
2012
Degree Name by School
Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) School of Public Health
Abstract
This dissertation, comprised of three publishable manuscripts, addresses various identified gaps in the literature focused on public health systems and services research. Public health systems and services research includes studies that examine the organization, financing and delivery of public health services in communities, and the impact of these services on public health. Specifically, this dissertation focuses on three topics: (1) the measurement of the health care market environment of local public health departments, (2) community characteristics related to quality improvement strategies in local public health environments, and (3) the longitudinal changes in public health partnerships and how these partnerships relate to health outcomes. The first study presented in this dissertation is a systematic review of studies that examined the market environment of health care organizations. It summarizes the ways that the environmental constructs munificence, dynamism, and complexity have been operationalized for empirical studies. The second study of this dissertation examines the relationship between the market environment of local public health departments and the use of quality improvement within these organizations. It presents the first attempt at operationalizing characteristics of local public health markets into variables representing the level of resources and uncertainty within the market. The third study of this dissertation is a longitudinal examination of local public health partnerships over time and the relationships between partnerships and health outcomes.
Recommended Citation
Yeager, Valerie A., "Studies in Public Health Systems and Services Research: Three papers examining the market environment, quality improvement, and community partnerships" (2012). All ETDs from UAB. 3413.
https://digitalcommons.library.uab.edu/etd-collection/3413