Public Health Review by ASTHO

04.16.2024

88: Maximizing Investments in Social Determinants of Health Through Interagency Collaboration

The social determinants of health (SDOH)—the social, economic, and built environments in which people live, learn, work, and play—have significant impacts on health outcomes. Yet, sustainably funding initiatives that address SDOH is an ongoing challenge. In this episode, Admiral Rachel...

02.28.2024

87: With Deep Appreciation - Mike Fraser’s ASTHO Legacy

In 2016, Mike Fraser joined ASTHO as CEO. Throughout the seven subsequent years, he served as an indispensable leader, visionary, mentor, and friend—steering the organization through unprecedented challenges in public health, including the global COVID-19 pandemic. Now, the...

11.09.2023

86: One Health - The Shared Future of People, Animals, and the Planet

The One Health approach recognizes the interconnection between human and animal health and their shared environment. There is an urgent need for a One Health approach now, especially in the prevention of outbreaks, not just response. Public health agencies and...

10.12.2023

85: The Call to Join Public Health

Public health has a workforce problem: the demand for a new generation of public health practitioners is higher than ever, but health agencies are having a hard time filling positions, either due to funding or lack of visibility. Luckily, there...

09.18.2023

84: Partnering to Prevent Overdoses

Successful overdose prevention efforts require support from public health, public safety, and community harm reduction programs. These partnerships are key to promoting sustainable and effective overdose prevention. On this episode of Public Health Review, we speak with representatives...

08.28.2023

83: Cutting-Edge Program Boosts Public Health Leadership Skills

ASTHO’s Essentials of Leadership and Management (ELM) training gives public health experts the skills they need to better perform their supervisory positions and support their teams. On this episode, we check in with ELM graduates in Kentucky: Shannon Rome at...

06.21.2023

82: Data Strategies to Improve Health Outcomes for Indigenous Communities

American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) populations experience profound health disparities in part due to significant social and economic barriers. Having solid data helps inform policies that can improve the systems that serve these populations and mitigate stigmas impacting the...

05.18.2023

81: Improving Access to Risk Appropriate Care and Maternal Health Outcomes through Provider Engagement

Maternal mortality rates are disproportionally high in the United States and still increasing. The majority of maternal deaths are preventable, indicating the need for system improvements. Equitable access to risk appropriate care improves maternal health outcomes and can be achieved...

04.20.2023

80: Reducing STI Stigma Through Inclusive Care Strategies

STIs are on the rise. Now more than ever, it is imperative to raise awareness of the current state of STIs, especially their disproportionate impact on marginalized populations. Whole person care and status-neutral approaches to STI treatment and prevention empower...

03.30.2023

Bridging the Gap: Ensuring Vaccine Equity for Native Communities

Like other vulnerable populations, American Indian and Alaskan Native (AI/AN) communities faced greater risk for complications during the COVID-19 pandemic. One such complication was ensuring that AI/AN populations had access to the vaccine. Listen to three public health experts share...

02.07.2023

Connecting Climate Change and Health Equity in Public Health Agencies

This podcast focuses on the Washington State Department of Health’s (WA DOH) approach to understanding and addressing climate and equity concerns. Guests discuss the need to continuously make connections between climate change and public health, the role of community engagement...

12.20.2022

77: Celebrating 80 Years of ASTHO

The Association of State and Territorial Health Officials was incorporated on March 23, 1942. For 80 years, ASTHO has worked to advance public health and create a healthier nation. What has that looked like in the past, and we where...

12.01.2022

76: The Future of Food Safety Inspections

Public health agencies had to rapidly innovate during COVID-19, and one of those innovations was virtual restaurant inspections. Beginning in March 2020, COVID-19 social distancing and stay-at-home orders required many food establishments to adopt takeout and/or food delivery models. To...

11.17.2022

75: Ebola Preparedness - Lessons Learned from 2014

As Ebola cases grow in Uganda, state and island area health officials are preparing for the possibility of a case in the United States. While there are no U.S. cases currently, there was an outbreak of Ebola in Dallas in...

10.11.2022

74: Helping the Helpers Address Youth Mental Health

Building a comprehensive workforce response to the youth mental health crisis requires educators, traditional school behavioral health workers, and public health professionals to work collaboratively. A public health approach is needed to address youth mental health by supporting frontline staff...

09.19.2022

73: Improving Health Equity with Data

Health equity is a top priority for many health agencies. In an ideal implementation, public health leaders can use performance management systems to advance health equity goals. These systems ensure that progress is being made toward department goals by systematically...

08.31.2022

72: Revitalizing Public Health Through Connection

The Senior Leader Reserve Corps connects former government public health leaders with current state health officials in need of leadership-level technical assistance and support. ASTHO developed this program with CDC to support state health officials as they face their biggest...

07.27.2022

71: Substance Use During Pregnancy - Reducing Stigma of Treatment

Opioid use disorder (OUD) during pregnancy contributes to maternal death and poor birth outcomes. Although prenatal care can reduce these effects, pregnant individuals may delay care due to concerns about stereotyping and stigmatizing by providers. The relationship between a physician...

06.30.2022

70: Making Sure Maine Youth Matter

Since 2000, rates of suicide and substance overdose mortality have steadily increased in the United States. A prevailing theory within public health is that substance use disorder and suicide are both “deaths of despair” and a way to cope with...

05.12.2022

69: Effects of COVID-19 on Tuberculosis Prevention, Detection, and Treatment

COVID-19 has impacted the ways in which we prevent, detect, and treat tuberculosis (TB) infections. The pandemic presented challenges to public health and healthcare systems which may have caused delayed diagnoses, and increased new infections, however some COVID-19 mitigation measures...

04.21.2022

68: Older Adults and Healthy Aging

Older-adult health has been increasingly on the radar of public health agencies over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. For many, it prompted new or enhanced partnerships with their sibling agencies. As the population of older adults continues to grow,...

04.06.2022

67: Public Health's Role in Telehealth

The expansion of federal and state telehealth flexibilities throughout the COVID-19 pandemic loosened policy restrictions and improved access to telehealth for millions of people, although challenges remain for certain under resourced populations. As telehealth continues to take off,...

03.23.2022

66: COVID-19 in the Pacific: What We’ve Learned and Where We’re Going

Public health agencies work around the clock to prepare for and respond to public health threats, including infectious diseases, natural disasters, clinical care emergencies, and more. While advanced preparedness planning is invaluable, past and current emergencies also serve as critical...

02.16.2022

65: Collectively Supporting Behavioral Health of People Living with Disabilities During COVID

Adults with disabilities are reported to experience more mental distress than those without disabilities. Mental distress in this population is associated with poorer health behaviors, an increase in health services use, mental and behavioral health disorders, and reduced quality...

01.20.2022

64: Disability and Crisis Standards of Care in the Age of COVID-19

As Omicron leads to nation-wide COVID-19 surges, many jurisdictions face the decision to activate crisis standards of care, a decision-making guide that helps healthcare providers give the best care during situations where resources are scarce. These guidelines focus on care...

12.15.2021

63: Community-Led Health Equity Programs Deliver Results

Public Health leaders know that location matters and has a significant impact on an individual’s health—and initiatives that have the highest impact focus on localized conditions and speak directly to community needs. Nicole Alexander-Scott (director, Rhode Island Department of Health)...

12.01.2021

62: Financing the Future of Public Health

A strong public health infrastructure is required at the national, state, territorial, and local levels to carry out critical programs and respond to emergencies. How can states move from a reactive approach of ad hoc crisis funding to a proactive...

11.03.2021

61: COVID-19 and the Fourth Trimester

This episode highlights COVID-19’s impact on overdose-related deaths during the postpartum period, also known as the fourth trimester. There has been a significant increase in postpartum overdose-related deaths in recent years—a problem that has only been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.  In this episode, Dr. Kristina Box (Indiana state health commissioner) discusses the...

10.18.2021

60: Gratitude Amid Struggle - Celebrating Wins in the COVID-19 Response

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought challenges to communities nationwide, but there is reason for hope: In the face of these struggles, health agencies are seeing real progress that will provide benefits long after the pandemic passes. In our latest episode,...

09.29.2021

59: The Importance of Crisis Communications in Public Health

As states continue to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, the role of crisis communications is vital. How can states provide the public with relevant, timely information? What are the essential elements of a crisis communications response? In our latest episode,...

09.08.2021

58: Health Partnerships in Action - Managing COVID-19 at the Southwest Border

On this episode, we dissect concerns at the southwest United States border, where health and governmental officials find themselves managing an extraordinarily complex situation, handling an increase in migration activity during a global pandemic. Pritesh Gandhi, MD, Chief Medical Officer,...

08.25.2021

57: Misinformation and the COVID-19 Vaccination Campaign

As the COVID-19 vaccination campaign continues, countering misinformation has become a core public health goal. What approaches are showing promise, and who can public health agencies bring to the table to advance clear and accurate information about vaccines? In this...

08.11.2021

56: Prevention for the Next Generation - Addressing Adverse Childhood Experiences, Suicide, and Overdose

With the pandemic upending social interaction, youth mental health is an increasingly important issue. State and territorial health agencies and community partners play a role in advancing prevention at the intersection of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs)s, overdose, and suicide--strengthening equity...

07.30.2021

BONUS: Fighting the Next COVID-19 Wave

In this bonus episode, we hear from three leading state public health officials about the latest national and state response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Their comments are taken from a virtual news conference with national journalists held Thursday, July 29,...

07.29.2021

55: Avoiding the Cliff - Financing Medicaid in the Territories

Medicaid plays a critical role in providing access to health services for low-income U.S. citizens in the five U.S. territories. However, Medicaid financing in the territories has been underfunded when compared to states. While Congress has provided a patchwork of...

07.01.2021

BONUS: Making Technology Work for Rapidly Changing Public Health Needs

The COVID-19 pandemic was an important lesson for public health officials that their surveillance needs can evolve and change quickly - from ramping up testing, to building up a contact tracing workforce, to creating a database for vaccinations. On this...

06.24.2021

54: What a Shortage of Forensic Pathologists Means for Public Health

Forensic pathologists investigate deaths to serve the living, but what are the implications for public health when we do not have a viable forensic pathology workforce? State medicolegal death investigation systems currently lack a capacity to respond to major public...

06.16.2021

BONUS: Balancing Privacy and Security with COVID-19 Vaccine Credentials

The idea of “vaccine passports” is starting to become a divisive issue, but the reality is many businesses likely will begin to require patrons to show some kind of proof of vaccination against COVID-19. The good news is businesses and governments...

06.03.2021

BONUS: Addressing Vaccine Hesitancy with AM Trace

Vaccines that protect against COVID-19 are now readily available for most Americans. Almost half of the adult population is fully inoculated. This is a huge step in the right direction in order to put COVID-19 behind us. However, there remains...

05.24.2021

53: Protecting the Vulnerable - How Public Health Can Better Serve People with Disabilities

People living with disabilities have borne disproportionate burden in past emergency situations due to inequities in preparedness and response. To address and prevent inequities in the COVID-19 response, ASTHO placed 14 disability and preparedness specialists into health agencies around the...

05.20.2021

BONUS: Bringing Telehealth Into the Future with MyVax

As public health leaders race to vaccinate the nation against COVID-19, it’s critically important for public health data to move faster than disease. On this bonus episode of Public Health Review, we chat with an expert in artificial intelligence who...

05.17.2021

EXTRA: The Next Surge REVISITED - The Behavioral Health Crisis Following COVID-19

This conversation was first published in May 2020, but we thought the lessons and takeaways are still very relevant as the nation finally begins to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic. May is Mental Health Month, and this year, health officials...

05.04.2021

52: Resilient, Accessible, and Affordable Healthcare: Bouncing Forward from COVID-19

COVID-19 has not only stressed the U.S. healthcare and public health systems, but also highlighted racial and ethnic disparities in pre-existing conditions and health outcomes. These inequities are in part the result of differential access to quality and affordable healthcare,...

04.20.2021

51: The Health Equity Divide - Chronic Disease and COVID-19

People with chronic diseases have suffered the most during the pandemic both in rates of COVID-19 mortality and morbidity, and in how they experience the social determinants of health (things like food insecurity, poverty, etc.) The health disparities that exist...

04.06.2021

50: Building Back a Stronger Public Health Workforce Post-Pandemic

One of the many lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic is the needed investment in a robust public health workforce that can respond to crises when they arise. Yet, a well-funded public health workforce isn’t enough--there also needs to be...

03.25.2021

49: Building Community Resilience to Help Families Bounce Forward

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected children’s and families’ social, emotional, and mental wellbeing, and demand for social services has increased due to COVID-19-related and economic factors. Programs that place foster children, prevent domestic violence, and provide temporary assistance to families...

02.18.2021

48: Restoring Trust and Confidence in Public Health

As COVID-19 spread across the country, public health officials became key spokespeople for simple prevention measures such as hand washing, mask-wearing, and social distancing. However, these actions were met with resistance from those who felt their individual freedoms and liberties...

01.21.2021

47: Getting Shots into Arms - The Race to Vaccinate Against COVID-19

It’s been a long and draining year in the year since the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in the United States. But help is on the way with two FDA-authorized vaccines, and more likely to get approved in the months...

12.14.2020

46: Public Health in 2020: The Year That Was

In medical schools and public health programs across the country, 2020 will be worth its own textbook chapter in the years to come. But today we’re still in the thick of our response to the COVID-19 pandemic, though there is...

11.10.2020

45: Addressing Housing Challenges and Economic Insecurity During COVID-19

Economic insecurity has been on the rise in the U.S. as COVID-19 continues to spread across the country. Millions of Americans have filed for unemployment while others risk losing their income because of illness or businesses closing temporarily. The...

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