International Overdose Awareness Day is an opportunity to spotlight the importance of being prepared to respond when overdose spikes occur. Overdose spikes can develop rapidly, leaving public health and safety agencies with a narrow window to respond. In Alaska, public health, public safety, tribal health, treatment and recovery organizations, and community partners used a tabletop exercise developed by ASTHO and the Overdose Response Strategy (ORS) to test a statewide overdose spike response protocol and identify where preparedness efforts needed to improve.  ORS is a unique public health and public safety partnership between the Office of National Drug Control Policy and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention through their support of the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas program and the CDC Foundation. ORS connects public health and public safety agencies so they can share timely information and support innovative, evidence-based strategies to reduce overdoses and save lives. Michael Jurasek, a CDC Foundation public health analyst with the ORS program serving Alaska, discusses how the exercise helped Alaska strengthen notification systems, engage populations at heightened risk, and build relationships with new partners. He also shares how lessons from the exercise were put into practice during a real-world overdose cluster and why jurisdictions should treat preparedness as an ongoing, iterative process.

Public Health Responds to the Overdose Crisis | ASTHO

Overdose Spike Preparedness Exercise Tabletop in a Box | ASTHO

Leading Change October 2026
Beyond the RHTP Buzz: Is Your Rural Community Ready to Scale What Works?

Community health workers (CHWs) play a vital role in connecting people with the health and social services they need, making them an important part of efforts to improve brain health and support people living with dementia. In recognition of National Community Health Worker’s Week, Corinne Gillenwater, senior analyst for Chronic Disease and Health Improvement, discusses ASTHO’s updated e-learning course for CHWs on Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. She explains how feedback from CHWs across the country shaped the new 2.0 version, which covers dementia risk reduction, early detection, caregiving, healthy aging across the life course, and resource navigation. She also shares early results showing increased knowledge and skills among participants, as well as examples of how CHWs are applying the training in their communities.

PHRME - Infant Mortality Programs, CHW Alzheimer’s Course

Equipping Community Health Workers to Address Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias in Their Communities | astho prod

Leveraging Medicaid to Support Community Health Workers | ASTHO

Resilience among Rural Public Health Leaders during the COVID‐19 Pandemic: A Hermeneutic Phenomenological Study - McMillion - 2026 - The Journal of Rural Health - Wiley Online Library

Public health leaders are navigating organizational changes, funding shifts, workforce reductions, and evolving community needs. Brittany Cox, assistant commissioner of the Division of Health Disparities Elimination at the Tennessee Department of Health, discusses how an ASTHO Leading Change workshop helped her develop practical strategies for guiding her team through uncertainty. She shares how an ASTHO Readiness for Change Tool helps assess where teams are in the change process, how a visual exploration exercise opened up conversations about the challenges of change, and why connecting with public health leaders across the country has strengthened her approach to leadership.

Leading Change October 2026
Opportunities for Public Health Agencies to Advance Sustainable Financing of Community Health Worker Programs | ASTHO

Rethinking “Soft” Leadership Skills in Public Health | ASTHO

Public health agencies are being asked to do more with less while responding to rapidly changing health threats, technologies, and community needs. Danny Staley, ASTHO senior vice president of Public Health Practice and Programs, discusses how innovation and capacity building can help health departments adapt by identifying successful practices, scaling proven solutions, strengthening the workforce, and using data in new ways. He also explores how artificial intelligence could help public health professionals make sense of massive amounts of data and information, and how measuring the impact of new tools and strategies will be critical to demonstrating their value by 2029.

ASTHO's Strategic Plan | ASTHO

Equipping Community Health Workers to Address Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias in Their Communities | astho prod

It’s not just a gut feeling: Foodborne illness outbreaks are especially bad this summer | CNN

Community health workers (CHWs) help bridge the gap between the health care system and the everyday realities of the people it serves. They connect patients to care and community resources, support chronic disease management, and help people navigate barriers such as transportation, provider shortages, and limited broadband access. In recognition of National Community Health Workers Week, ASTHO’s Ashley Cram explains how states are supporting this essential workforce through training, supervision, career pathways, and sustainable funding.

How States Leverage Policy to Build Up Community Health Workers | ASTHO

Community Health Worker Certification by Jurisdiction | ASTHO

Rethinking Efficiency in Public Health | AJPH | Vol. 116 Issue 9

As the 2026–27 respiratory virus season approaches, state health departments are preparing communities for influenza, COVID-19, and RSV while working to strengthen vaccine confidence and access. On today’s show, we’ll hear excerpts from a briefing on Tuesday, August 18, where public health leaders from Connecticut, Alabama, New York, and Alaska discussed strategies for reaching people through trusted messengers, addressing vaccine hesitancy with empathy, and making vaccination easier to access. The leaders also share lessons from recent respiratory virus seasons, including the impact of flu, RSV, and COVID-19 on hospitalizations and children, and explain how coordination among state, local, federal, tribal, and community partners help health departments respond to emerging threats. From Alaska's vaccine procurement program and immunization information system to New York's community-based approach to vaccine outreach, the briefing highlights how preparation, communication, and strong public health partnerships can help protect communities.

Building Resilient Immunization Programs: A 2026-2031 Roadmap for Public Health Leadership | ASTHO

COVID-19 | ASTHO

Influenza | ASTHO

Declining childhood vaccination rates, rising exemptions, and growing vaccine skepticism are creating new challenges for state immunization programs. Kim Martin, director of immunization at ASTHO, discusses how states are responding by looking beyond traditional school vaccination requirements and taking a more holistic approach to access and trust, the focus of a recent Health Policy Update. She highlights efforts to offer vaccines at hospital discharge, expand the range of health professionals who can administer them, remove financial barriers, strengthen communication and data systems, and work with trusted community messengers. Martin explains how these policy changes can make vaccination easier and more routine while helping communities prepare for vaccine-preventable outbreaks.

How States Are Expanding Immunization Access Through Policy | ASTHO

Communication, Community, and Power-Sharing: A Conversation with DELPH Scholars | ASTHO

PH-HERO Workforce Resource Center | ASTHO

Data modernization funding can sound abstract, but in Minnesota, it’s producing tangible changes across the public health system. On today’s PHIG Impact Report, Wendy Underwood, deputy commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Health discusses how PHIG funding helped move cancer screening clinics from paper-based processes to digital systems, giving public health officials faster and more accurate access to critical information. She also explains how the funding is supporting employee development, modernizing Minnesota’s laboratory information management system, and strengthening partnerships with local, tribal, and community health organizations. Underwood shares lessons from Minnesota’s experience about using infrastructure investments to create improvements that can endure long after the funding ends.

This work is supported by funds made available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), National Center for STLT Public Health Infrastructure and Workforce, through OE⁠⁠⁠⁠22-2203⁠⁠⁠⁠: Strengthening U.S. Public Health Infrastructure, Workforce, and Data Systems grant. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by CDC/HHS, or the U.S. Government.

Public Health Infrastructure Grant: Resources & Impact - PHIG

Health care workforce shortages aren’t experienced the same way in every community and deciding where to invest limited resources requires more than just counting clinicians. Steve Holloway, director of the Primary Care Office for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, explains how his team uses data and geospatial analysis to identify communities with the greatest need for primary, oral and behavioral health providers. Holloway discusses the role of Health Professional Shortage Area designations, Colorado’s state-specific approach to measuring access, and the Colorado Health Service Corps, which has supported hundreds of clinicians serving underserved communities. He also explains how partnerships with philanthropy have helped Colorado stretch public workforce investments further, directing resources toward communities where they can make the biggest difference.

2026 Primary Care Office Annual Technical Assistance Assessment | ASTHO

Voices From the Field: Public Health Success Stories | ASTHO

Using Data-Driven Strategy to Prevent ACEs and Improve Health Outcomes | ASTHO

Strengthening Partnerships to Prevent Overdose: Key Actions in a Multi-State Learning Collaborative | ASTHO

Risk of Severe Arboviral Disease in Patients Receiving B Cell-Depleting or Modulating Medications | HAN | CDC

Reliable disease surveillance requires trusted partnerships, shared standards, and transparent access to information. In this episode, Illinois Department of Public Health Chief Transformation Officer Massimo Pacilli explains how the new US Disease Tracker is bringing together state health agencies, national public health organizations, and academic partners to strengthen disease surveillance. He discusses Illinois' role in shaping the platform from its pilot phase, the benefits of peer-to-peer collaboration among public health agencies, and how the initiative could improve outbreak detection, modernize public health data systems, and build greater public trust through timely, state-validated information.

About Infectious Disease Prevention | ASTHO