Public Health Leadership Forum

Foundational Public Health Capabilities and Services

In April of 2013, at the encouragement of a number of public health leaders, the Public Health Leadership Forum (PHLF) convened a group of stakeholders to further explore a recommendation from Institutes of Medicine (IOM), “For the Public’s Health: Investing in a Healthier Future,” to further define a minimum package of public health services (FPHS) including the foundational capabilities (FPHC) and an array of basic programs no health department can be without.

Over the course of several meetings, the workgroup refined and drafted an initial document intended to be used as a discussion piece within the broader public health community in an expanded effort to continue the development of, support for, and coalescence around the case for foundational capabilities and areas essential in local and state health departments everywhere for the health system to work anywhere. The "V1", starting concept, is outlined in Articulation of Foundational Capabilities and Foundational Areas.v1

Key Definitions: 

Foundational Capabilities are cross-cutting skills that need to be present in state and local health departments everywhere for the health system to work anywhere. They are the essential skills and capacities needed to support the Foundational Areas and other programs and activities essential to protecting a community’s health and achieving equitable health outcomes. Examples of these skills include organizational competencies such as leadership, governance, quality management, health equity, and others.

Foundational Areas are the substantive areas of expertise or program-specific activities that must be in all state and local health departments to protect the community’s health. Examples of foundational areas include communicable disease control, chronic disease and injury prevention, environmental health inspections, and monitoring.

Programs and Activities Specific to a Health Department are those additional services critical to a specific community. For example, in some jurisdictions, a health department may provide testing/treatment for sexually transmitted disease and in other jurisdictions, this activity may not need to be provided by the health department.

Foundational Public Health Services are the overall array of skills, programs, and activities that must be available in state and local health departments system-wide; they encompass the Foundational Capabilities and Areas as previously defined.