Foreword

This Local Public Health Orientation and Resource Guide (Guide) has been written to help you navigate the many roles and responsibilities of a local public health official in Massachusetts. The Guide identifies a number of subject/topic areas that are critical for local public health officials to have a basic understanding of and includes a compendium of related resources. We hope you will find this Guide easy to use and helpful to the important work you are doing to improve the health of Massachusetts residents.

The Massachusetts Health Officers Association (MHOA) developed this Guide with the help of many local public health partners and with the financial support of the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

The primary goal of this Guide is to provide you with important resources that are critical for the success of local public health officials. It includes information for local public health leaders to have a basic understanding of a wide range of topic areas, as well as training opportunities to hone necessary skills.

We suggest that readers take a self-paced approach to the information provided in this Guide. The resources included in each chapter are meant to be a starting point for local public health officials in developing their own programs.

We would like to thank the following individuals for their assistance in the development of this Guide.

• Michael Hugo – Massachusetts Association of Health Boards (MAHB)
• Leila Mercer – Massachusetts Association of Public Health Nurses (MAPHN)
• Ruth Mori – MAPHN
• Samuel Wong – MHOA