Public Health Services Most Commonly Provided by Local Health Departments in the United States

The primary purpose of this research is to identify the most commonly performed public health services by local health departments (LHDs) and highlight variation by LHD characteristics. Data were drawn from the 2008 and 2010 National Profile of LHDs, conducted by the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO). The descriptive analysis aims to further the essential dialogue triggered by a recent Institute of Medicine (IOM) report about the standard minimum set of services that all LHDs should provide. This study identified a set of 22 activities performed by LHDs that are common in jurisdictions of all sizes. Notable differences in most commonly performed services were found by the size of population in LHD jurisdiction, presence of board of health, type of LHD governance, per capita expenditures, and size of workforce.