Management competencies in health for all/new public health settings

Competency-based health management research, commonly undertaken by educationalists, has tended to draw upon the attitudes and beliefs of managers from the curative, institutional/bureaucratic health care sector. With traditional health care priorities being questioned in many industrialized countries, and in particular with greater attention being paid to the concepts underlying the "Health for All" (or what is known in Australia perhaps more commonly as the "New Public Health") movement, there would seem to be a need to broaden competency-based research to incorporate the attitudes of practitioners managing non-curative health services and programs. To this end an exploratory qualitative research project involving New Public Health managers in a series of semi-structured focus sessions was undertaken. The discussions were transcribed and analyzed to identify and isolate the features perceived to be essential for effective New Public Health practice and its management. While consensus was not apparent even on definitional issues, certain qualities were seen as necessary in the effective public health manager. In particular "key figure" attributes--charisma, commitment, and drive--were rated highly, as were the abilities to function in a loosely regulated environment while at the same time dealing with bureaucratic processes.