A competency model for basic public health professionals in public health emergencies

Objective: To develop and validate a comprehensive competency model for basic public health professionals to enhance their response to public health emergencies. Methods: Staff working in basic public health institutions such as the Centre for Disease Control, community health services and township health centres were selected as the study population. Through an integrative literature review, structured questionnaire survey (n = 1310), exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis, we developed and validated a competency model. Exploratory factor analysis was utilized to extract common factors, and confirmatory factor analysis was employed to establish the model and ensure its robustness. Results: Identified competencies by exploratory factor analysis encompass professional and technical skills, medical professionalism, specialized medical knowledge, cognitive and managerial aptitude, public health service competence, emergency response proficiency and physical and mental quality. The model displayed high validity, with a Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin score of 0.933, the chi(2) value of Bartlett's test of sphericity was 4169.238 at 889 degrees of freedom (df) (p < 0.001) and the cumulative contribution rate was 60.7%. The confirmatory analysis yielded a final model fit (chi(2)/df = 2.461) with satisfactory adjusted fit indicators. Conclusion: This validated competency model provides a robust framework for selecting, training and evaluating basic public health professionals, potentially enhancing overall emergency response capabilities.