Dr. Scott Harris, ASTHO President-Elect and State Health Officer with the Alabama Department of Public Health, tells us about an education campaign about tick-borne diseases; Sean Newhouse, Staff Reporter for Government Executive, explains a study that says government employees are burned out; and a new resource from ASTHO emphasizes the role of public-private sector partnerships in advancing health equity.

The Cullman Tribune OpEd: Protect yourself from tick bites – and what to do if you’re bitten

Route Fifty News Article: Burnout among government workers is decreasing but still high, according to new pulse survey data

Eagle Hill Consulting Webpage: Understanding government employee burnout

ASTHO Webpage: Best Practices to Leverage Partnerships to Support Health Equity: An Implementation Cheat Sheet

Dr. Karen Hacker, Director of the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion at the CDC, says Medicaid and Medicare may be able to help keep Community Health Workers on the front lines; Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, Vice President and Chief Health Equity Officer for CVS Health and the former State Health Officer for the State of Michigan, explains how important it is to keep community health workers on the team; Christina Severin, ASTHO Director of Public Health Law, breaks down a new ASTHO legal map hosted on the organization’s Public Health Legal Mapping Center website; and ASTHO has a new report about the impact COVID-19 had on people living with disabilities.

ASTHO Report: Opportunities for Public Health Agencies to Advance Sustainable Financing of Community Health Worker Programs

ASTHO Public Health Review Podcast Episode: Investing in Community Health Workers Is Vital to Population Health

ASTHO Webpage: Overdose Surveillance Legal Map

ASTHO Brief: Access to Healthcare for People with Disabilities in Public Health Emergencies 

ASTHO Report: Organizational Strategic Planning Guide

Christine Schell, Manager for the Department of Environmental Protection at the Office of Environmental and Public Health Analysis in New Jersey, tells us about an online portal in New Jersey that explains to people the health impacts of hot summer temperatures; Dave Baden, Deputy Director for Policy and Programs at the Oregon Health Authority, says Oregon wants to get ahead of the heat by helping Medicaid members stay cool; ASTHO has released a set of four comprehensive resources to help agencies align their public health data and systems with their state’s Medicaid Enterprise system; and Sara Black, Senior Advisor at the National Association for County and City Health Officials, dives into a new report to help agencies improve data sharing.

Heat Hub NJ Webpage

KFF Health News News Article: AC, Power Banks, Mini Fridges – Oregon Equips Medicaid Patients for Climate Change

ASTHO Webpage: Sustaining DMI – Conditions for Enhanced Funding

ASTHO Webpage: Sustaining DMI – A State Health Official’s Guide to Enhanced Funding

ASTHO Webpage: Sustaining DMI – Medicaid Advanced Planning Document Process

ASTHO Webpage: Sustaining DMI – Leveraging Medicaid to Advance Public Health Data and Surveillance

ASTHO Report: Policy Options to Improve Data Sharing Between State and Local Health Departments

Andy Baker-White, ASTHO Senior Director for State Health Policy, discusses the ongoing discussion over legal tools needed to ensure public health during outbreaks and emergencies; Maggie Davis, ASTHO Director of State Health Policy, says funding and standards for peer support specialists are the focus of a new ASTHO legal map now online; Arnaldo Machado, Director of Public Health Workforce Development and Resilience at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, tells us virtual open house events might help your agency build new connections; a new ASTHO blog article examines lessons learned during the Zika outbreak; and ASTHO has new report sharing how three states have worked to improve nutrition for infants, young children, and their families.

ASTHO Webpage: Public Health Authority Toolkit

Journal of Public Health Management and Practice Webpage: Recommended Strategies to Prioritize Evidence-Based Public Health Authority

ASTHO Webpage: Peer Support Specialist Credentialing Legal Map

ASTHO Blog Article: PHIG Success Story: In Massachusetts, Building Public Health Infrastructure Starts with a Strong Workforce

ASTHO Blog Article: Preparing for Maternal and Child Health Crises with Lessons from the Zika Outbreak

ASTHO Report: Early Childhood Nutrition Security

Dr. Macarena Garcia, a Senior Health Scientist at the Office of Rural Health at the CDC, summarizes a report focused on preventable premature deaths in rural America; Jeffrey Ekoma, ASTHO Senior Director for Government Affairs, updates us on the appropriations work his team has been doing; and ASTHO has published three briefs centered on the improvement of health data sharing.

CDC Webpage: Leading Causes of Death in Rural America as a Public Health Issue

Tableau Public Dashboard: Preventable Early Deaths in the United States, 2010-2022

Public Health Review Podcast Episode: Improving Retail Food Safety with the FDA Food Code

Public Health Review Podcast Webpage

ASTHO Brief: Olmsted County Pilots a Regional Population Health Data Hub to Improve Data Accessibility

ASTHO Brief: Fairfax County Health Department Modernizes Infrastructure to Optimize Public Health Data Sharing

ASTHO Brief: Arizona Department of Health Services Pursues Policies to Advance Data Sharing with Tribal Nations

Dr. Audrey Juhasz, Researcher at the Institute for Disability Research, Policy, and Practice, explains a project she is working on that is focused on accessible healthcare for people with disabilities; Dr. Marcus Plescia, ASTHO Chief Medical Officer, says the risk for avian influenza is still low for humans; an ASTHO blog article teaches you how to support Community Health Workers; an ASTHO report dives into the work ASTHO is doing with the COVID-19 health disparities grant; and Route Fifty spoke to ASTHO leaders about the National Implementation Center program.

ASTHO Blog Article: Strategies for Accessible Healthcare for People with Disabilities Living in Rural Communities

ASTHO Blog Article: Helping Community Health Workers Excel in the Public Health Workforce

ASTHO Report: Improving Community Access to Care Through Health Disparities Grant

Route Fifty News Article: New $255M federal grant will help state, local public health agencies modernize data systems

Jim Jellison, Vice President of Technology Strategy and Innovation at the National Network of Public Health Institutes, describes a new CDC-funded implementation center that will help tribal agencies with their data modernization work; Amy Lavery, an Epidemiologist at the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry at the CDC, explains how the Heat and Health index tool could help manage the impact of temperatures in communities; an ASTHO blog article explores how community power building can address social and structural determinants of health; and ASTHO partnered with CVS Health to research and write a report about the trend of more health plans investing in strategies to address the social determinants of health.

ASTHO News Release: Public Health Infrastructure Partners Launch National Implementation Center Program to Support Data Modernization

PHIG Partners Webpage: Data Modernization Implementation Center Program

CDC Webpage: Heat and Health Index

ASTHO Blog Article: Community Power Building Helps to Address Social and Structural Determinants of Health

ASTHO Report: High-Impact Community Investments by Health Plans

Dr. Kristina Kintziger, Associate Professor and the Associate Director of the Water, Climate, and Health program at the University of Nebraska, explains the long-term community impacts of a tornado; Nassira Nicola, Deputy Director for Access and Inclusion in the Office of Health Equity and Community Engagement at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, tells us the three goals of an upcoming ASTHO webinar focused on disability equity during an emergency response; a new ASTHO report examines how adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities use Medicaid services; and Drake Taitano, Program Coordinator at the Division of Environmental Health at the Department of Public Health and Social Services on Guam, says new approaches to data will give people in Guam more real-time information about public health concerns.

ASTHO Webpage: Climate and Health

ASTHO Webinar: Disability Equity in Emergency Preparedness – Lessons from COVID-19 Vaccination in Massachusetts

ASTHO Report: Examining Health Service Utilization in Medicaid Participants with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities – Findings from Louisiana, Pennsylvania, and Wyoming

ASTHO Webpage: Vector-Borne Disease

ASTHO Webpage: Vector-Borne Disease Surveillance with QGIS

ASTHO Webpage: Climate for Health Ambassadors Training

Whitney Magendie, Lead Advisor of the Public Health Infrastructure Grant at the Public Health Accreditation Board, tells us about PHAB’s involvement in the newly announced National Implementation Centers; Ann Abraham, Senior Analyst of Chronic Disease Risk Factors at ASTHO, explains the tobacco retailer licensing policy trends; Dr. Umair Shah, Secretary of Health for the Washington State Department of Health, recently spoke with Dr. Vivek Murthy, the United States Surgeon General, about loneliness in the United States; ASTHO has a new blog article on the integration of health equity into state and local data-sharing practices; and an ASTHO brief dives into the Grants Management Office Structure Optimization Toolkit.

ASTHO News Release: Public Health Infrastructure Partners Launch National Implementation Center Program to Support Data Modernization 

PHIG Partners Webpage: Data Modernization Implementation Center Program

ASTHO Blog Article: Enhancing Tobacco Control through Retailer Licensing Policies

Public Health Connects - RX For a Lonely Nation YouTube Video

ASTHO Blog Article: Integrating Health Equity into State and Local Data Sharing Practices

ASTHO Brief: Strengthening Grant Management Functions in Puerto Rico

Melissa Jezior, CEO of Eagle Hill Consulting, says burnout on the decline continues to create challenges in the workplace; Dr. Yngvild Olsen, Director of the Center for Substance Use Treatment at SAMHSA, tells us the Naloxone Saturation Policy Academy is helping states saturate their communities with life-saving medications to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose; Public Health Infrastructure Grant recipients are working with key partners to improve data systems through the Data Modernization Initiative; and ASTHO has a new template and guide to help agencies write charters to direct their work.

Eagle Hill Webpage: The State of Worker Burnout 2024

ASTHO Blog Article: DMI Advisory Committees Kick Off Across the Pacific

ASTHO Webpage: Charter Template and Guide