The Competencies of Leadership

Written by: Gerald Barron, MPH, Deputy Director, University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health Center for Public Health Practice
Copy editor: Kurt Holliday, Communications Specialist, Pennsylvania Public Health Training Center

Leadership is important. Governmental agencies, non-profit organizations, and businesses all have been shown to be better able to meet their mission and accomplish their goals when they have strong leadership. Therefore, it is important to understand what is needed to be a good leader. Who are leaders? A leader is someone you would follow to a place you would not go on your own. In the follower’s estimation, this is a better place. The most important component of the leader-follower relationship is trust. It is important that we trust our leaders or we won’t follow them. How is this trust developed? It’s developed by the leader exhibiting the following competencies:

Creates and Embraces a Vision – Envisions the future by creating an exciting, compelling, and credible possibility
Takes and Builds Accountability – Acts in a responsible way 
Demonstrates Resolve and Decisiveness – Makes decisions about what to do with courage and firm determination 
Self Regulates – Resists or delays any impulses, drives, or temptations to act which may detract from the achievement of goals
Self-Knowledge – Recognizes his/hers own skills, abilities, emotions, preferences, biases, and predispositions
Empathetic/Compassionate – Has a full range of authentic emotional expression that enables the addressing of one’s own needs as well as the needs of others
Active Listening – Pays concentrated attention to what someone else is saying as well as paying attention to what is motivating or influencing the other person
Communicates Messages Effectively – Communicates messages effectively using words, symbolism and personal example
Motivates and Empowers People – Understands how and why people feel and act as they do, whether motivated by enlightened self-interest, team interest, or organizational interest
Timing of Action – Demonstrates an appropriate sense of timing for announcements, decisions, actions, and in-actions 

Digging into Shale Gas and its Effects on Public Health

Written by: Samantha Malone, MPH, CPH, Manager of Science and Communications, FracTracker Alliance and DrPH Student, Environmental and Occupational Health Dept., Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, and Jill Kriesky, PhD, Assistant Director, Southwestern Pennsylvania Environmental Health Project
Copy editors: Jennifer Kolker, MPH, Co-Principal Investigator, Pennsylvania Public Health Training Center; Kurt Holliday, Communications Specialist, Pennsylvania Public Health Training Center

Figure 1. PA Production and Waste From Unconventional Wells:
July 2012 to December 2012. Data source: PA DEP. Map: FracTracker.org

You hear about it daily in the news; natural gas is an immense, domestic energy source for the United States. Economic analysts and the industry promote this fossil fuel as a solution to our need for foreign energy and a cheaper, cleaner-burning fuel for household use.  But with these benefits also come significant risks.

Today’s natural gas is not found in shallow pockets tapped by drillers generations ago. It is tightly packed in deep shale deposits requiring considerable effort to extract it.

Drillers pump millions of gallons of water and chemicals underground to hydraulically fracture the shale and release the gas.  The process involves hundreds of truck trips to deliver the site materials and haul away the waste. Blowouts, fires, and traffic incidents add to burdens already shouldered by rural emergency responders and health care practitioners. Truck trips, diesel-powered compressors, and silica sand used during hydraulic fracturing also worsen air quality. Waste water improperly injected into deep wells (See Figure 1) has induced earthquakes (~4.0 magnitude).[1]

Despite these potential health risks, public health professionals’ input was missing from early regulatory discussions about the benefits and costs of shale gas extraction.[2] While the public health workforce has weighed in more recently, additional issues need action.  Most importantly, chemical mixtures returned to the surface after drilling should be actively monitored. Private drinking water wells in the vicinity need pre- and post-water quality tests.  The air, water, and soil pathways to potential human contamination exposure require systematic study.  And finally, micro-seismic monitoring of hydraulic fractures and wastewater injection should be conducted.  Responsiveness to the results of these studies can reduce the potential environmental health impacts posed by this industry today and in the future.

Figure 2. Drilled (orange) and permitted (pink) unconventional wells in PA as of 1-4-13.
Data source: PA DEP. Map: FracTracker.org

1.  For a comprehensive list of health concerns associated with unconventional natural gas extraction, see Korfmacher, Jones, Malone, and Vinci (2013).
2.  Goldstein BD, Kriesky J, Pavliakova B. (2012). Missing from the Table: Role of the Environmental Public Health Community in Governmental Advisory Commissions Related to Marcellus Shale Drilling. Environ Health Perspect, 120(4): pp. 483–486.

Flu Activity Declines Nationally and in Pennsylvania

Written by: Charles Vukotich, Jr. MS, Senior Project Manager, University of Pittsburgh Social Mixing And Respiratory Transmission in Schools (SMART in Schools)
Copy editors: Jennifer Kolker, MPH, Co-Principal Investigator, Pennsylvania Public Health Training Center; Kurt Holliday, Communications Specialist, Pennsylvania Public Health Training Center

Distribution of flu cases reported in Pennsylvania this season by county,
10/02/12 - 01/26/2013 (n=30,286) Source: PA Department of Health

The 2012-2013 flu season has proved to be one of the worst years for influenza in recent history. It was the second worst flu season since 2003 and one of the earliest flu seasons on record, with the exception of 2009 (H1N1). Flu activity started in late November. This was earlier than the 2003 season, which was mostly over by January. As of the current time, flu is still widespread in 38 states.

Influenza started in the south and moved to Pennsylvania by December. It was widespread in all 50 states and peaked during the last week of December through mid-January. Pennsylvania peaked in the second week of January at ~6,000 cases. By comparison, the 2009 H1N1 season peak was ~8,000 cases. Typical seasons have recently peaked at ~2,500 cases or less. The flu has affected those 65+ most (22.9% of cases), but also substantially affected the 25-49 age group (22.6%). The flu this season is primarily Flu A (90% of cases), and of the H3N2 strain.

While much is known about how flu spreads, we still don’t know what the best practice prevention methods are (such as school closures). The SMART in Schools program is working to better understand how social networks affect flu transmission. You can help by participating in a brief online survey and be entered into a weekly drawing for an Amazon or iTunes gift card. The anonymous survey takes 15 to 45 minutes to complete and is open to any resident of the United States.

For more flu information, visit www.cdc.gov/flu/.

Lab positive flu cases reported in Pennsylvania this season (as of week 5) compared to the last six seasons

Source: PA Department of Health

New Year, New Style

Written by: Kurt Holliday, Communications Specialist, Pennsylvania Public Health Training Center

The new year is here and it brought some new style to our communications. The Training Center recently launched a variety of new ways for you to stay informed about the latest workshops, distance education opportunities, conferences throughout Pennsylvania and the nation, and more. You will now spend less time searching for public health events, continuing education, and industry news and more time enjoying other things.

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