Data Tool to Calculate Contact Tracer Workforce Need

Moderated by Leana Wen, this session explores the development of the Mullan Institute's Contact Tracing Workforce Estimator tool, the collaboration involved in the development, and the importance of the tool to help county, state, and national public health officials’ plan their contact tracing efforts. Candice Chen, MD, MPH, of the George Washington University Mullan Institute describes the impetus for the estimator tool, provides a brief overview of its development, and what it is hoped can be accomplished through its use. Marcus Plescia, 

MD, MPH, of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) talks about the tool’s potential to bring greater awareness of contact tracing to its members with realistic measures of staff volume and mixed workforce, as well as coordination considerations when expanding staffing resources. Chris Aldridge, MSW, at the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) discusses the importance of being able to change the tool parameters to see local level needs to help health departments project current and future caseloads.

relevant resources

• To Strengthen The Public Health Response To COVID-19, We Need Community Health Workers
• A National Plan to Enable Comprehensive COVID-19 Case Finding and Contact tracing in the US
• A Coordinated, National Approach to Scaling Public Health Capacity for Contact Tracing and Disease Investigation​​