Public Health Ambassadors

Public health managers: ambassadors, coordinators, scouts, or guards?

CONTEXT: Middle managers are increasingly required to work with, and between, many groups within an organization ("boundary spanning,").

PARTICIPANTS: Fourteen administrative and team public health managers.

SETTING: An urban-rural public health unit in Ontario, Canada.

RESULTS: The participants' more frequently engaged in the ambassador, coordinator, and scout categories of boundary spanning than behaviors in the guard category.

CONCLUSION: Boundary spanning appears to be an essential function for public health managers. The most positive type of boundary-spanning is ambassador type behaviors, which can lead to improved group performance.

J Public Health Manag Pract. 2013 Nov-Dec;19(6):562-8