Public health infrastructure system change: outcomes from the turning point initiative.

The Robert Wood Johnson and W.K. Kellogg Foundations created the Turning Point initiative to transform and strengthen the public health infrastructure. This study examined 135 public health system changes for their links to multiple sector collaborative engagement, essential public health services, health outcomes, and infrastructure building strategies. An on-line documentation system developed by the University of Kansas was used to record and analyze these linkages. The results showed that each state accomplished notable system changes; the majority involved more than one sector and primarily related to increasing local public health system capacity and organizational change.