In this editorial, we describe a unique partnership between the de Beaumont Foundation, a leading public health philanthropic organization, and the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice (JPHMP). The mission of the de Beaumont Foundation is to "advance policy, build partnerships, and strengthen public health to create communities where people can achieve their best possible health."1JPHMP, now in its 25th year of publication, is a bold advocate for public health practice, emphasizing the critical importance of population-based measures to policy makers and the public. Recognizing the importance of an evidence-based practice publication and encouraging practitioner authorship and orientation to public health activities at local, state, and national levels, de Beaumont awarded a 3-year grant to the journal in 2015.
In our January/February issue of 2016, we announced this initial partnership between JPHMP and the de Beaumont Foundation that allowed us to improve the capacity of the journal to serve as a resource for practitioners, academics, and policy makers with an interest in population-based public health.2 One of the major initiatives supported by this funding was the creation of a companion site for the journal (http://www.JPHMPDirect.com) and expansion of our social media presence. The partnership has been an unqualified success, as the companion site has blossomed into a multimedia presence, hosting commentaries, videos, podcasts, infographics, and a myriad of author resources. To date, the site has been visited nearly 100 000 times by more than 50 000 unique visitors, thanks to the strong dissemination efforts of the editorial team on platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram. The success of these efforts is a testament to the impact that can be achieved by innovative and creative partnerships. We are now happy to announce that the partnership will continue into the foreseeable future, with a new sponsorship agreement between de Beaumont and the journal that will run through December 2023.
The partnership between JPHMP and de Beaumont is strengthened by shared goals and values. This support has enabled JPHMP to disseminate information in a myriad of innovative formats and provide expert commentary and innovative research and evaluation relevant to practice. JPHMP has been guided for the past 5 years by a strategic plan formulated at a meeting convened in September 2014 by the de Beaumont Foundation. Attendees included representatives of the JPHMP editorial board, Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO), National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO), National Governors Association, and others. The continued support from the foundation is an embodiment of the foundation's commitment to the successful implementation of that strategic plan.
Starting in November/December 2018, each issue of JPHMP now carries a column "Getting Practical" contributed by the de Beaumont Foundation. In the first column, Brian C. Castrucci, President and Chief Executive Officer, and James B. Sprague, Chairman of the Board of the Foundation, wrote that the new column would offer perspectives from leaders in various sectors who share the goal of creating the social and economic conditions shown to improve everyone's health. Furthermore, they emphasized that "improving population health requires both policies and partnerships-neither of which is possible without a skilled workforce practicing in strong governmental public health agencies."3(p599)
We are exploring options to provide access to JPHMP to the 30 local health departments that belong to the Big City Health Coalition (BCHC). These 30 departments serve nearly 62 million people. The BCHC was formed in 2002 to reflect their particular needs that can differ from those of many smaller jurisdictions across the country. Now affiliated with NACCHO, sponsored by the de Beaumont Foundation and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, this is a forum where these cities can use their combined resources and experience to formulate new approaches to address common challenges.
The BCHC is another important intersection point between JPHMP and the de Beaumont Foundation. Articles from the BCHC are regularly published in the journal. In January/February 2015, JPHMP published a supplement "Big City Health Departments: Leadership Perspectives." In an editorial for this issue, James B. Sprague4 expressed the goal of the foundation to support governmental public health and "boots on the ground" projects. This commitment to enhancing public health practice is also the purpose of JPHMP.
The March/April 2019 issue of JPHMP featured a special supplement, "Workforce Interests and Needs Survey (WINS) 2017." This was preceded by an earlier supplement, "Workforce Interests and Needs Survey," published in 2015 with our November/December issue. The 2015 issue published findings of the first nationally representative survey to collect data from state health agency workers on worker diversity, recruitment, retention, and performance. Public health workforce has been a key area of publication for the journal and a priority research area with the de Beaumont Foundation.
As we look to the future, we are eager to continue publishing cutting edge research of critical elements of the public health infrastructure. For example, currently 4 articles, now published ahead of print, depict the characteristics of state health officers (SHOs). The SHO-CASE study, sponsored by the de Beaumont Foundation, focuses on surveying current and former SHOs. The SHO-CASE study survey database represents the most comprehensive database of its kind, allowing exploration of factors contributing to SHO success, including valuable insights into effectively working with the states' elected officials.
This unique partnership has increased the profile of the journal and its capacity to improve public health practice. Thanks to the support of the de Beaumont Foundation, the future of the journal could not be brighter.
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