STLT Health Department Partnerships: Decision Support
The goal of the Center for Outbreak Response Innovation (CORI)—as an Insight Net implementer—is to scale up, support, and maintain the use of infectious disease modeling, forecasting, and other advanced analytics tools in decision-making across all levels of epidemic and pandemic preparedness and response, including state, tribal, local, and territorial (STLT) health departments; elected officials; the private sector; and the public. For our STLT health department partnerships, CORI aims to take on this role through collaborations during and outside of infectious disease health emergencies to build, sustain, and strengthen relationships over the long term. Broadly, the CORI | STLT partnership aims to foster information-sharing between health departments to identify, create, share, and/or refine tools, trainings, and other resources that streamline outbreak responses, reduce redundancies, improve efficiency, and effectively leverage new or existing capabilities.
Resources available and activities conducted through these partnerships will include:
- An online database with procured and open source “off the shelf” tools, trainings, and other resources to support decision-making during infectious disease outbreaks.
- Facilitation of information sharing between CORI, other Insight Net centers, and STLT partner organizations on resources available to support outbreak response activities.
- Real-time rapid assistance during emerging crises to support STLT health department response efforts.
The CORI team believes these activities are responsive to the expressed needs of STLT health departments as documented in the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists summary report “Forecasting for Decision Makers Regional Meetings: August-October 2023” and a needs assessment conducted by the CORI team with two state health department partners.
Project Team
CORI Team: Matthew Shearer, Haley Farrie, Sarah Gillani, Caitlin Rivers, Crystal Watson, Alison Kelly, Sarah Schneider-Firestone, Amanda Hart
Past contributors: Alexander Linder
Resources and Publications
Enhancing Public Health Infrastructure and Incorporating Data-Driven Tools for Outbreak Detection and Response: A Pilot Needs Assessment of Two State Health Departments
- This report describes the findings from a needs assessment conducted with two state health department partners.
Partner with Us!
If you are a state or local public health department interested in enhancing your response efforts or currently managing an outbreak, our team offers tailored support to evaluate, document, and enhance your organization's readiness and response capabilities.
We collaborate with you to:
- Review and document your outbreak preparedness and response strengths, challenges, and opportunities
- Develop tailored materials for outbreak preparedness and response, such as communication templates, case investigation protocols, and interview scripts
- Support your internal teams in evaluating outbreak preparedness and response processes
- Conduct rapid research on scientific and policy-related public health issues to inform your decision-making during a response or in planning
Contact us to learn more.