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Sample Participant Recruitment Letter #1
Dear (Insert Colleagues Name Here):
It is my pleasure to invite you to participate in a one-day meeting (Insert other meeting type if appropriate) to assess our local public health system. The meeting will be conducted as a retreat (or Insert meeting type) at the (Insert Meeting Location Here) on, (Insert Date Here), 2005. It will be held from (Insert Time Here) until (Insert Time Here). Registration will begin at (Insert Time Here), with the meeting beginning promptly at (Insert Time Here). (Insert statement about lunch arrangements, if applicable, e.g., Lunch will be provided courtesy of ABC Hospital.)
The (Insert county health department name) is one of 67 county health departments in the state of Florida participating in the Center for Disease Control and Preventions (CDCs) National Public Health Performance Standards Program to strengthen public health systems. As you may be aware, a public health system is made up of all public, private and voluntary entities that contribute to the delivery of essential public health services within a jurisdiction. In order to measure the performance of our local public health system, it is important to have representatives from organizations and sectors that are involved in our local public health system. CDC will analyze our completed assessment, and feedback will be provided in the form of a report that can be used to identify strengths and weaknesses both locally and statewide.
I am enclosing (a copy of the assessment) (and/or) (informational materials) so that you may begin preparing for our meeting. Also, directions to (Insert Meeting Location Here) are enclosed.
Please RSVP no later than (Insert Date Here) 2005, by email to (Insert Contact Name and Information Here), or by calling (Insert Contact Name Here) at (Insert Contact Information Here). I look forward to having you join together with other community partners to take a close look at our public health system.
Sincerely,
Sample Participant Recruitment Letter #2
Dear (Insert Colleagues Name Here):
The (Insert county health department Here) cordially invites you to participate in an assessment of our local public health system. A public health system includes all public, private, and voluntary entities that contribute to the public's health and well being in our community. These can include health care providers, social service and community-based organizations, educational and faith-based institutions, transportation providers, public safety and emergency response organizations, and many others. Along with Floridas other 66 county health departments, we will be utilizing the Center for Disease Control and Preventions (CDCs) National Public Health Performance Standards Program (NPHPSP) assessment instrument to identify system strengths and areas for system improvement. This tool was developed by CDC and seven national public health organizations, and is designed around the CDCs Ten Essential Public Health Services (informational materials are enclosed).
To begin the system assessment process, we will be meeting with our public health system partners on (Insert Date Here), 2005 from (Insert Time Here) until (Insert Time Here) in (Insert Meeting Location Here). Directions are enclosed.
We hope that you (or your organizational representative) will be able to join us. Kindly respond with your acceptance or regrets by (Insert Date Here), to (Insert Contact Name Here): Phone: (Insert Contact Information Here) or e-mail: (Insert Contact Information Here). In order to facilitate the process, we would appreciate it if you could look over the assessment instrument prior to the initial meeting. The tool is available for download at http://www.phppo.cdc.gov/nphpsp/index.asp by clicking the hyperlink, Local Instrument, located in the left-hand column of the webpage. Should you have any difficulty accessing the document, please contact (Contact Name and Information) and a copy will be made available to you.
We look forward to your participation in this endeavor.
Sincerely,
Sample Participant Recruitment Letter #3
Dear (Insert Colleagues Name Here):
I am writing to ask you to participate in an exciting process that will bring us together to look at how our local public health "system" fares in comparison to a set of new national standards. You may already be familiar with the Center for Disease Control and Preventions (CDCs) National Public Health Performance Standards Program. If not, I should tell you that Florida was among the few states that served as pilot test sites for the development of these national standards in 1999.
The (Insert county health department Here) is coordinating the local public health system performance standards process. While the county health department is leading assessment process, we complete this assessment with all of our community health partners who play such important roles in promoting and preserving the health of (Insert Community Here). This includes the whole spectrum of service providers who are involved in primary prevention, youth programs, elder services, schools, home health agencies, community health centers, hospitals, etc.
In order to complete the standards assessment with input from all major health system entities, I am asking you to make a commitment to spend (Insert Time Commitment Here) working with us to discuss and respond to a series of questions about the status of our public health system, using a rating scale that will be explained to you before the workshops. I will provide more detailed information about the performance assessment process in the next few weeks so that you can prepare for the meetings in advance.
The workshops will be held on (Insert Date Here) from (Insert Time Here) and (Insert Date Here) from (Insert Time Here). Both sessions will be held at (Insert Meeting Site Here). Directions to (Insert Meeting Site Here) are enclosed. (Insert statement about lunch arrangements, if applicable, e.g., Lunch will be provided courtesy of ABC Hospital.)
I greatly appreciate your commitment to this important endeavor. Through the efforts of public health system partners this process will ultimately lead to a public health system improvement plan that benefits the entire (Insert Community Here) population and improves coordination and collaboration among our health system entities. Thank you in advance for your support of endeavor!
Sincerely,
Sample Follow-Up Letter #1
Dear (Insert Colleagues Name Here):
Let me take this opportunity to express my gratitude for your willingness to participate in our local public health system assessment process. This initiative is a great opportunity to bring together the diverse institutions and organizations that work to protect and improve the health of the (Insert Community Here), and a means to assess our strengths and weaknesses as a "system".
I am sending some preliminary materials as background for participants in our (Insert meeting(s) or workshops Here). You will benefit most from reading these in advance of the sessions. The preparatory materials include program agendas for the workshops, and some literature on the Ten Essential Public Health Services, which are the framework for the local public health system performance standards. During the course of the workshops we will be discussing each of these Essential Services, and ranking our performance based on a set of questions that will be distributed at the session.
Each workshop will run from (Insert Time Here) until (Insert Time Here), starting promptly at (Insert Time Here) and ending by (Insert Time Here). (Insert statement about breakfast and/or lunch arrangements, if applicable, e.g., Lunch will be provided courtesy of ABC Hospital.)
I appreciate your commitment to this endeavor. While the task before us is large, I am confident that we can work productively and achieve the desired outcome in a timely manner. Most importantly, I believe that this undertaking will result in a better understanding of our challenges and opportunities as a public health system and help us to chart the course for the future.
Sincerely,
Sample Follow-Up Letter #2
* NOTE - This follow-up letter should be used for purposes related to reconvening your system partners for quality improvement planning purposes.
Dear (Insert Colleagues Name Here):
I am both relieved and delighted to tell you that we have completed our local public health system standards assessment for (Insert Community Here) with relative ease and great cooperation from many of our public health system partners. A total of (Insert Number Here) organizations were represented in the workshops that took place on (Insert Date Here) and (Insert Date Here). Thanks to all for taking the time to participate. Despite the challenges in the process, I hope that you came away from the experience with a better understanding of the breadth of public healths responsibility in todays world, the extent to which we are meeting these challenges, and where we may need to focus additional effort in the years ahead.
The (Insert county health department Here) will be entering the data from our completed assessment very shortly, and submitting it to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for analysis. The CDC will then provide a summary report with our results that will be shared with all of you soon-there-after. Our intent is to hold a summit meeting toward in (Insert Date Here) to discuss the findings and to consider steps that we might take to improve our public health system in 2005 and beyond.
Again, thank you for your commitment to improving our communitys public health. We will be in touch soon.
Sincerely,
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