How do public health agencies expand access to mental health support while genuinely engaging the next generation? In this episode, we speak with Heidi Laird and Xavier Foster from the Southern Nevada Health District about two PHIG-funded initiatives designed to do exactly that. First, Heidi Laird shares how Clark County launched CredibleMind, a customizable, evidence-based mental health and wellbeing platform created in response to rising mental health needs and a shortage of providers. She explains how flexible PHIG funding made it possible to reach youth and community members with self-help resources, reduce stigma, track meaningful engagement data, and build trust through partnerships, targeted outreach, and creative promotion. Then, Xavier J. Foster discusses the SPARK Youth Advisory Council, a pilot program elevating youth voices in public health decision-making. He highlights how youth-led initiatives—from school town halls to smoke-free campus policy efforts—are already shaping real-world outcomes, and why treating young people as collaborators is essential for building healthier communities and a future public health workforce.
Public Health Infrastructure Grant: Resources & Impact - PHIG
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This is Public Health Review
Morning Edition for Tuesday,
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February 3rd, 2026.
I'm John Sheehan with news from
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the Association of State and
Territorial Health Officials.
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Today, another edition of the
FIG Impact Report, this time
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focusing on expanding access to
mental health services.
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We'll hear from 2 officials from
the Southern Nevada Health
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District who are using FIG funds
in different ways, but both with
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an emphasis on engaging young
people.
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Heidi Laird is a health educator
and suicide awareness
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coordinator in the Office of
Disease Surveillance and
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Control.
She'll tell us about the
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Credible Mind platform, which
provides access to mental health
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resources.
Later, we'll hear from Xavier
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Foster, HealthEquity Coordinator
at the Southern Nevada Health
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District, about the SPARK Youth
Advisory Council, a pilot
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program elevating youth voices
and public health decision
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making.
First, here's Heidi Laird with
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more information about Credible
Mind, Nevada's online mental
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health and well-being platform.
It is customizable and allows
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access to credible evidence
based information for different
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communities.
So currently Clark County, Clark
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County uses it and it gives
people access to assessments and
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topics on depression, suicide,
other anxiety, depression, all
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of those things.
So people who are looking to
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kind of start their medical
journey would prefer more of a
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self help type journey.
They can access this and know
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that it's credible.
And it was in response to rising
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mental health cases and a
shortage.
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Of providers, right?
Yes, correct.
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So we needed kind of a creative
outside of the box solution to
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address this need and give
people access to this important
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information, you know, as there
is a shortage and access was
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limited.
And one of the funding
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mechanisms that made this
possible was Fig.
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Correct.
Correct.
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Yes, we used FIGS flexible
funding to help launch this
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platform in 2024 and that made
it so that we could promote the
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site throughout the community
and we were able to launch an
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employee and a community
platform so that we could have
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this greater access.
This site allows us to track
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data so we know what this
community is accessing.
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So currently our community is
really interested in topics of
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anxiety and depression, and our
demographics are mostly female
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and youth between the ages of 13
and 17.
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So this is really important data
for us to be able to understand
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what the community is needing
and who's accessing it.
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And just a note about that sort
of that flexibility that Fig
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provided, why was that important
for for like implementation?
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Of the program.
Well, because of the provider
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shortage, we really needed a way
to increase access to mental
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health resources that were
credible and evidence based.
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And we needed a way to promote
mental health awareness to kind
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of reduce that stigma in help
seeking.
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And we also know that a lot of
people prefer to start their
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mental health journey with self
help strategies.
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So Fig allowed us to provide our
community with this perfect self
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help type resource and then
Clark County is huge.
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So we really needed a resource
that could be broadly applicable
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and accessible to everybody in
the community.
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So FIG allowed us to meet those
three kind of check marks.
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And you mentioned sort of the
ability to track users to get
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that demographic data.
That's really, really important
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for being able to track the
issue.
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Have there been any other
successes that you can point to
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from the platform?
Yeah.
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So I mean, we did have that data
to track.
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And so we're seeing 800 new
users per month, which means the
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community really needed this.
And then we have that
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demographic of women and
teenagers that are really using
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it.
But we're also getting like
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feedback from community members.
We had a a mom of teenagers who
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said that she really appreciated
the site because it helped her
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to understand her teenagers and
how to help them with their
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mental health and to help them
build the tools of resilience.
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And then we had a seat Clark
County School District teacher
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who reached out and was grateful
for the site because it helped
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her to address burnout early and
prevent burnout.
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We have a therapist who I was
talking to who mentioned that
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before she had met with me, she
was looking for credible
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resources to share with her
client to support their therapy.
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And this met that needed.
It is credible, it's easily
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accessible, and it provides with
a plethora of resources that can
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support therapy.
And we have high school students
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that are using it and they feel
like it's beneficial and helps
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them to understand their mental
health.
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So we also have community
partners who have
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enthusiastically embraced the
site.
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They're very, very excited about
it and they use it in their
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programs.
They share the Flyers, They
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encourage the populations that
they work with to use it.
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So those are some of our early
successes.
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We're hoping to continue to have
more successes as we continue
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with program in our community.
And when when dealing with.
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Mental Health.
Challenges and with younger
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populations trust and gaining
that trust and keeping that
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trust is is is pretty important.
Can you talk about any lessons
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you've learned about sort of
working with that population
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and, and how to keep people
engaged and, and trusting the
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service?
So we haven't worked with that
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population directly, but we have
worked with community partners
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who work with them, and they've
already built that trust.
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So it was important for us to
just partner with them and have
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that collaborative relationship
so that they could bring them
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this resource and say, hey, this
is something that's really
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valuable.
We also were able to have
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through the FIG funding some
Google ads provided for
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promotion and that targeted
through keywords, through
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location and demographic
specific audiences.
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And since our youth are mostly
on social media, they were a big
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demographic that was targeted.
And so that was really helpful
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in reaching them and building
that trust through trusted
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platforms and vehicles.
And you mentioned your already
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planning on carrying this board
to the future has been
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successful enough, which is
great that people are finding
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value in the service.
Can you talk a little bit about
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keeping it sustainable and and
your.
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Plans for the future?
Yes.
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So we definitely want to keep
this for as long as we possibly
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can.
Our goals are really to continue
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to increase the collaborations
with community organizations to
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increase promotion and
engagement.
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We are using the REIM framework
to evaluate the the
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implementation and acceptance of
the program so that we can see
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where there are areas for
improvement and areas that we
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can better engage the community.
And we're also looking at ways
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to increase our funding through
grant funding or continuing
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through SNHD or even just
collaborations with community
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partners so that they can
participate in the funding of
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the program.
So those are kind of our three
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main areas where we're looking
to increase sustainability.
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And related to sort of building
trust and, and you know, meeting
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people where they are.
Do you have any lessons learned
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from the experience of of
creating the platform?
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Yes.
So some some tips that I would
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give, of course, would be to get
that community buy in through
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those partnerships with local
community organizations.
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Getting that support is super
important and we definitely need
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to have a strong action plan
developed for increasing that
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promotion and engagement.
But most importantly, I would
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also focus on being creative and
thinking outside of the box and
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getting the word out.
So some examples of things that
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we've done is we partnered with
a local nonprofit to include
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credible mind Flyers as part of
their canvassing program.
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The nonprofit was the foundation
for recovery and they their
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canvassing program was just to
as I can educational program on
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overdose prevention and
resources available for mental
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and behavioral health.
So that was a really great
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collaboration.
We have a local non profit
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podcast that includes Credible
Mind at the beginning and end of
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their podcast and they encourage
users to use the site.
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And then we worked with our
amazing communications team at
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Southern Nevada Health District
and they integrated Credible
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Minds throughout their
communications within our
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district and within our
community.
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So utilize those resources you
already have.
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And then of course, I talked a
little bit about Google Ads and
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I just want to put another plug
for that because that was really
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pivotal and getting the the
platform in front of people,
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especially our youth.
Heidi Laird is a health educator
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and suicide awareness
coordinator in the Office of
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Disease Surveillance and Control
for the Southern Nevada Health
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District.
Now let's hear from Xavier
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Foster, HealthEquity coordinator
at the Southern Nevada Health
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District, about the SPARK Youth
Advisory Council.
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SPARKS Youth Advisory Council is
our pilot program in an attempt
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to collect the voices of our
youth in our community and make
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sure that we take them into
consideration when implementing
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or creating new programs here at
the Southern Nevada Health
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District.
Working with SPARK members has
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reinforced that youth comes with
an invaluable amount of LIFT
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experiences that are important
to public health, in particular
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emerging issues like vaping.
Their perspective is sometimes
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overlooked, but in fact they
come with direct and concrete
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insight into how challenges
affect their peers and their
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communities.
Like I believe that they are
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essential to creating healthy
neighborhoods in helping their
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perspective to influence
educational campaigns or policy
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considerations that are based on
real world experiences.
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Yeah.
And that makes complete sense.
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Can you point to any impacts
that had been a direct result?
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Of the Council.
Yeah, there are several moments
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that illustrate the impact of of
the Spark members.
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For example, a student
independently planning to host a
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town hall, other high school to
talk about public health issues
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and collect our feedback from
their community.
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Another one is their initiative
to submit a proposal to present
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at a local conference in
reference to Faster in
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connection and how participating
in a youth based Advisory Board
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kind of contribute to those
goals.
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Now those projects were organic
to the to the youth and they
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come as a result of their
engagement with the program.
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Now the one that we are really
excited and we cannot wait for
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is their participation in
collaboration with the health
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district's smoking cessation
program, which is working in
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that trying to adopt A no
smoking policy at the College of
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Southern Nevada and to make sure
that they have a small a smoke
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free campus.
CSN is the largest serving
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institution of youth here at the
Nevada Higher Education System.
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So that's going to create a
great impact with with the youth
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population.
It took approximately 20 years
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to pass a similar policy at
UNLV, but we are students
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engagement and focus outreach.
Our cessation program will
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probably pass the the policy in
within the next six months.
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So we're really excited about
that.
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So the program is been supported
by FIG funding and I'm wondering
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how is, is that going to be a
sustainable model moving forward
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and how how do you see the the
program in in the future?
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Yeah.
No, this, this is not the first
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time that organization has used
advisory boards.
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But what is distinctive and
special about this program is
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that we're really not focusing
on one project, on one project
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or problem or or private program
area.
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We're really looking at public
health as a service to the
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community and why it's important
for you to become involved in
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that.
In that process.
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We are currently recruiting for
our second cohort.
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So next school year, at the
beginning of next school year,
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we're going to be implementing
the second year.
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And what we are looking forward
to is that current members have
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voiced their desire of for
opportunities around mentorship
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or probably even internships.
So we are in the initial phases
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of kind of thinking what that
model could look like to make
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sure that we, we, we keep them
engaged and we kind of develop
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a, a workforce, a public health
workforce in our community.
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So sustainability with
everything is, is going to
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require funding.
We're looking at, you know,
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community grants or public
foundations and of course
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organizational support to
continue the work.
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Funding like FIG is important
because it really allow us to be
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flexible and and not be
reactive.
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00:14:20,000 --> 00:14:24,120
So as the needs of the community
evolve, we can change with those
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00:14:24,120 --> 00:14:28,480
and be be able to actively be
responsive to the needs that the
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00:14:28,480 --> 00:14:31,600
community may have.
Xavier Foster is HealthEquity
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00:14:31,600 --> 00:14:33,760
coordinator at the Southern
Nevada Health District.
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00:14:34,080 --> 00:14:36,920
Earlier we heard from Heidi
Laird, a health educator and
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00:14:36,920 --> 00:14:39,240
suicide awareness coordinator in
the Office of Disease
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00:14:39,240 --> 00:14:42,480
Surveillance and Control, also
at the Southern Nevada Health
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00:14:42,480 --> 00:14:45,600
District.
This has been another FIG impact
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00:14:45,600 --> 00:14:48,280
report, part of the Public
Health Review MORNING EDITION.
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00:14:48,480 --> 00:14:51,080
I'm John Sheehan for the
Association of State and
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00:14:51,080 --> 00:14:52,360
Territorial Health Officials.
00:00:00,600 --> 00:00:03,160
This is Public Health Review
Morning Edition for Tuesday,
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00:00:03,160 --> 00:00:06,600
February 3rd, 2026.
I'm John Sheehan with news from
3
00:00:06,600 --> 00:00:09,280
the Association of State and
Territorial Health Officials.
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00:00:09,880 --> 00:00:13,200
Today, another edition of the
FIG Impact Report, this time
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00:00:13,200 --> 00:00:16,160
focusing on expanding access to
mental health services.
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00:00:16,680 --> 00:00:19,240
We'll hear from 2 officials from
the Southern Nevada Health
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00:00:19,240 --> 00:00:22,880
District who are using FIG funds
in different ways, but both with
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00:00:22,880 --> 00:00:24,800
an emphasis on engaging young
people.
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00:00:25,520 --> 00:00:28,040
Heidi Laird is a health educator
and suicide awareness
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00:00:28,040 --> 00:00:30,400
coordinator in the Office of
Disease Surveillance and
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00:00:30,400 --> 00:00:32,320
Control.
She'll tell us about the
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00:00:32,320 --> 00:00:35,480
Credible Mind platform, which
provides access to mental health
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00:00:35,480 --> 00:00:38,000
resources.
Later, we'll hear from Xavier
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00:00:38,000 --> 00:00:40,880
Foster, HealthEquity Coordinator
at the Southern Nevada Health
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00:00:40,880 --> 00:00:44,560
District, about the SPARK Youth
Advisory Council, a pilot
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00:00:44,560 --> 00:00:47,200
program elevating youth voices
and public health decision
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00:00:47,200 --> 00:00:50,200
making.
First, here's Heidi Laird with
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00:00:50,200 --> 00:00:53,840
more information about Credible
Mind, Nevada's online mental
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00:00:53,840 --> 00:00:59,880
health and well-being platform.
It is customizable and allows
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00:00:59,880 --> 00:01:03,600
access to credible evidence
based information for different
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00:01:03,600 --> 00:01:06,760
communities.
So currently Clark County, Clark
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00:01:06,760 --> 00:01:14,040
County uses it and it gives
people access to assessments and
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00:01:14,040 --> 00:01:21,520
topics on depression, suicide,
other anxiety, depression, all
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00:01:21,520 --> 00:01:24,080
of those things.
So people who are looking to
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00:01:24,080 --> 00:01:27,280
kind of start their medical
journey would prefer more of a
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00:01:27,280 --> 00:01:30,080
self help type journey.
They can access this and know
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00:01:30,080 --> 00:01:35,160
that it's credible.
And it was in response to rising
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00:01:35,160 --> 00:01:38,760
mental health cases and a
shortage.
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00:01:38,800 --> 00:01:41,160
Of providers, right?
Yes, correct.
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00:01:41,160 --> 00:01:46,920
So we needed kind of a creative
outside of the box solution to
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00:01:46,920 --> 00:01:51,280
address this need and give
people access to this important
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00:01:51,280 --> 00:01:55,080
information, you know, as there
is a shortage and access was
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00:01:55,080 --> 00:01:58,080
limited.
And one of the funding
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00:01:58,080 --> 00:02:00,360
mechanisms that made this
possible was Fig.
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00:02:00,360 --> 00:02:01,760
Correct.
Correct.
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00:02:01,760 --> 00:02:05,680
Yes, we used FIGS flexible
funding to help launch this
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00:02:05,680 --> 00:02:13,000
platform in 2024 and that made
it so that we could promote the
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00:02:13,000 --> 00:02:17,920
site throughout the community
and we were able to launch an
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00:02:17,920 --> 00:02:22,880
employee and a community
platform so that we could have
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00:02:22,880 --> 00:02:25,640
this greater access.
This site allows us to track
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00:02:25,640 --> 00:02:30,040
data so we know what this
community is accessing.
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00:02:30,040 --> 00:02:33,720
So currently our community is
really interested in topics of
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00:02:33,720 --> 00:02:39,040
anxiety and depression, and our
demographics are mostly female
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00:02:39,040 --> 00:02:41,680
and youth between the ages of 13
and 17.
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00:02:41,680 --> 00:02:44,480
So this is really important data
for us to be able to understand
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00:02:44,720 --> 00:02:48,200
what the community is needing
and who's accessing it.
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00:02:48,680 --> 00:02:52,560
And just a note about that sort
of that flexibility that Fig
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00:02:52,560 --> 00:02:56,880
provided, why was that important
for for like implementation?
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00:02:56,880 --> 00:02:59,880
Of the program.
Well, because of the provider
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00:02:59,880 --> 00:03:04,080
shortage, we really needed a way
to increase access to mental
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00:03:04,080 --> 00:03:07,160
health resources that were
credible and evidence based.
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00:03:07,680 --> 00:03:11,520
And we needed a way to promote
mental health awareness to kind
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00:03:11,520 --> 00:03:14,120
of reduce that stigma in help
seeking.
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00:03:14,120 --> 00:03:19,160
And we also know that a lot of
people prefer to start their
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00:03:19,160 --> 00:03:21,040
mental health journey with self
help strategies.
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00:03:21,040 --> 00:03:25,460
So Fig allowed us to provide our
community with this perfect self
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00:03:25,460 --> 00:03:30,320
help type resource and then
Clark County is huge.
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00:03:30,320 --> 00:03:35,560
So we really needed a resource
that could be broadly applicable
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00:03:35,560 --> 00:03:38,640
and accessible to everybody in
the community.
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00:03:38,840 --> 00:03:42,080
So FIG allowed us to meet those
three kind of check marks.
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00:03:43,080 --> 00:03:46,400
And you mentioned sort of the
ability to track users to get
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00:03:46,400 --> 00:03:49,360
that demographic data.
That's really, really important
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00:03:49,360 --> 00:03:51,840
for being able to track the
issue.
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00:03:51,960 --> 00:03:54,400
Have there been any other
successes that you can point to
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00:03:54,400 --> 00:03:56,280
from the platform?
Yeah.
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00:03:56,280 --> 00:03:58,800
So I mean, we did have that data
to track.
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00:03:58,800 --> 00:04:02,600
And so we're seeing 800 new
users per month, which means the
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00:04:02,600 --> 00:04:06,640
community really needed this.
And then we have that
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00:04:06,640 --> 00:04:10,040
demographic of women and
teenagers that are really using
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00:04:10,040 --> 00:04:11,640
it.
But we're also getting like
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00:04:11,640 --> 00:04:15,800
feedback from community members.
We had a a mom of teenagers who
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00:04:15,800 --> 00:04:19,200
said that she really appreciated
the site because it helped her
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00:04:19,200 --> 00:04:22,520
to understand her teenagers and
how to help them with their
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00:04:22,520 --> 00:04:26,160
mental health and to help them
build the tools of resilience.
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00:04:27,280 --> 00:04:31,160
And then we had a seat Clark
County School District teacher
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00:04:31,160 --> 00:04:34,160
who reached out and was grateful
for the site because it helped
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00:04:34,160 --> 00:04:37,840
her to address burnout early and
prevent burnout.
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00:04:38,400 --> 00:04:42,120
We have a therapist who I was
talking to who mentioned that
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00:04:42,600 --> 00:04:46,320
before she had met with me, she
was looking for credible
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00:04:46,320 --> 00:04:49,960
resources to share with her
client to support their therapy.
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00:04:49,960 --> 00:04:54,120
And this met that needed.
It is credible, it's easily
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00:04:54,120 --> 00:04:58,160
accessible, and it provides with
a plethora of resources that can
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00:04:58,160 --> 00:05:02,680
support therapy.
And we have high school students
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00:05:02,680 --> 00:05:05,200
that are using it and they feel
like it's beneficial and helps
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00:05:05,200 --> 00:05:06,760
them to understand their mental
health.
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00:05:08,480 --> 00:05:11,800
So we also have community
partners who have
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00:05:11,960 --> 00:05:14,080
enthusiastically embraced the
site.
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00:05:14,080 --> 00:05:17,320
They're very, very excited about
it and they use it in their
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00:05:17,760 --> 00:05:20,360
programs.
They share the Flyers, They
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00:05:21,120 --> 00:05:26,160
encourage the populations that
they work with to use it.
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00:05:26,160 --> 00:05:28,680
So those are some of our early
successes.
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00:05:28,680 --> 00:05:31,600
We're hoping to continue to have
more successes as we continue
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00:05:31,600 --> 00:05:36,720
with program in our community.
And when when dealing with.
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00:05:36,720 --> 00:05:39,840
Mental Health.
Challenges and with younger
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00:05:39,840 --> 00:05:44,480
populations trust and gaining
that trust and keeping that
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00:05:44,480 --> 00:05:49,400
trust is is is pretty important.
Can you talk about any lessons
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00:05:49,400 --> 00:05:52,920
you've learned about sort of
working with that population
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00:05:52,920 --> 00:05:56,680
and, and how to keep people
engaged and, and trusting the
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00:05:56,680 --> 00:06:00,200
service?
So we haven't worked with that
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00:06:00,200 --> 00:06:03,240
population directly, but we have
worked with community partners
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00:06:03,240 --> 00:06:06,360
who work with them, and they've
already built that trust.
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00:06:06,800 --> 00:06:10,760
So it was important for us to
just partner with them and have
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00:06:10,760 --> 00:06:14,240
that collaborative relationship
so that they could bring them
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00:06:14,240 --> 00:06:18,400
this resource and say, hey, this
is something that's really
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00:06:18,400 --> 00:06:21,600
valuable.
We also were able to have
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00:06:21,960 --> 00:06:26,520
through the FIG funding some
Google ads provided for
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00:06:27,560 --> 00:06:31,280
promotion and that targeted
through keywords, through
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00:06:31,280 --> 00:06:35,040
location and demographic
specific audiences.
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00:06:35,040 --> 00:06:39,200
And since our youth are mostly
on social media, they were a big
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00:06:39,200 --> 00:06:43,280
demographic that was targeted.
And so that was really helpful
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00:06:43,280 --> 00:06:47,040
in reaching them and building
that trust through trusted
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00:06:47,640 --> 00:06:54,080
platforms and vehicles.
And you mentioned your already
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00:06:54,080 --> 00:06:56,160
planning on carrying this board
to the future has been
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00:06:56,160 --> 00:07:00,600
successful enough, which is
great that people are finding
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00:07:00,600 --> 00:07:03,280
value in the service.
Can you talk a little bit about
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00:07:03,480 --> 00:07:06,440
keeping it sustainable and and
your.
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00:07:06,440 --> 00:07:08,360
Plans for the future?
Yes.
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00:07:08,680 --> 00:07:11,880
So we definitely want to keep
this for as long as we possibly
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00:07:11,880 --> 00:07:15,320
can.
Our goals are really to continue
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00:07:15,320 --> 00:07:19,440
to increase the collaborations
with community organizations to
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00:07:19,440 --> 00:07:21,480
increase promotion and
engagement.
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00:07:21,800 --> 00:07:26,800
We are using the REIM framework
to evaluate the the
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00:07:26,800 --> 00:07:31,880
implementation and acceptance of
the program so that we can see
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00:07:31,880 --> 00:07:35,600
where there are areas for
improvement and areas that we
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00:07:35,600 --> 00:07:40,760
can better engage the community.
And we're also looking at ways
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00:07:40,760 --> 00:07:45,360
to increase our funding through
grant funding or continuing
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00:07:45,360 --> 00:07:49,160
through SNHD or even just
collaborations with community
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00:07:49,160 --> 00:07:52,840
partners so that they can
participate in the funding of
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00:07:52,840 --> 00:07:56,320
the program.
So those are kind of our three
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00:07:56,320 --> 00:07:59,800
main areas where we're looking
to increase sustainability.
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00:08:00,480 --> 00:08:05,160
And related to sort of building
trust and, and you know, meeting
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00:08:05,160 --> 00:08:07,760
people where they are.
Do you have any lessons learned
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00:08:07,760 --> 00:08:10,000
from the experience of of
creating the platform?
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00:08:10,800 --> 00:08:13,440
Yes.
So some some tips that I would
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00:08:13,440 --> 00:08:16,760
give, of course, would be to get
that community buy in through
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00:08:16,760 --> 00:08:20,000
those partnerships with local
community organizations.
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00:08:20,000 --> 00:08:24,160
Getting that support is super
important and we definitely need
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00:08:24,160 --> 00:08:28,120
to have a strong action plan
developed for increasing that
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00:08:28,120 --> 00:08:31,080
promotion and engagement.
But most importantly, I would
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00:08:31,080 --> 00:08:34,679
also focus on being creative and
thinking outside of the box and
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00:08:34,679 --> 00:08:38,200
getting the word out.
So some examples of things that
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00:08:38,200 --> 00:08:42,760
we've done is we partnered with
a local nonprofit to include
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00:08:42,760 --> 00:08:46,040
credible mind Flyers as part of
their canvassing program.
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00:08:46,040 --> 00:08:50,560
The nonprofit was the foundation
for recovery and they their
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00:08:50,560 --> 00:08:54,000
canvassing program was just to
as I can educational program on
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00:08:54,000 --> 00:08:58,160
overdose prevention and
resources available for mental
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00:08:58,160 --> 00:09:00,240
and behavioral health.
So that was a really great
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00:09:00,240 --> 00:09:04,000
collaboration.
We have a local non profit
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00:09:04,000 --> 00:09:08,760
podcast that includes Credible
Mind at the beginning and end of
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00:09:08,760 --> 00:09:13,840
their podcast and they encourage
users to use the site.
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00:09:14,240 --> 00:09:17,240
And then we worked with our
amazing communications team at
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00:09:17,240 --> 00:09:20,680
Southern Nevada Health District
and they integrated Credible
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00:09:20,680 --> 00:09:22,920
Minds throughout their
communications within our
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00:09:22,920 --> 00:09:24,760
district and within our
community.
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00:09:25,480 --> 00:09:27,640
So utilize those resources you
already have.
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00:09:28,080 --> 00:09:30,560
And then of course, I talked a
little bit about Google Ads and
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00:09:30,560 --> 00:09:33,880
I just want to put another plug
for that because that was really
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00:09:33,880 --> 00:09:37,960
pivotal and getting the the
platform in front of people,
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00:09:37,960 --> 00:09:41,960
especially our youth.
Heidi Laird is a health educator
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00:09:41,960 --> 00:09:44,280
and suicide awareness
coordinator in the Office of
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00:09:44,280 --> 00:09:47,000
Disease Surveillance and Control
for the Southern Nevada Health
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00:09:47,000 --> 00:09:49,440
District.
Now let's hear from Xavier
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00:09:49,440 --> 00:09:52,440
Foster, HealthEquity coordinator
at the Southern Nevada Health
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00:09:52,440 --> 00:09:55,520
District, about the SPARK Youth
Advisory Council.
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00:09:56,480 --> 00:10:00,920
SPARKS Youth Advisory Council is
our pilot program in an attempt
166
00:10:00,960 --> 00:10:05,040
to collect the voices of our
youth in our community and make
167
00:10:05,040 --> 00:10:08,600
sure that we take them into
consideration when implementing
168
00:10:08,600 --> 00:10:11,160
or creating new programs here at
the Southern Nevada Health
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00:10:11,160 --> 00:10:14,040
District.
Working with SPARK members has
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00:10:14,040 --> 00:10:19,600
reinforced that youth comes with
an invaluable amount of LIFT
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00:10:19,600 --> 00:10:24,600
experiences that are important
to public health, in particular
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00:10:24,840 --> 00:10:29,440
emerging issues like vaping.
Their perspective is sometimes
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00:10:29,440 --> 00:10:33,840
overlooked, but in fact they
come with direct and concrete
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00:10:33,880 --> 00:10:37,160
insight into how challenges
affect their peers and their
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00:10:37,160 --> 00:10:39,680
communities.
Like I believe that they are
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00:10:39,680 --> 00:10:44,520
essential to creating healthy
neighborhoods in helping their
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00:10:44,840 --> 00:10:49,400
perspective to influence
educational campaigns or policy
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00:10:49,400 --> 00:10:53,560
considerations that are based on
real world experiences.
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00:10:53,840 --> 00:10:55,560
Yeah.
And that makes complete sense.
180
00:10:55,680 --> 00:10:59,640
Can you point to any impacts
that had been a direct result?
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00:10:59,640 --> 00:11:02,640
Of the Council.
Yeah, there are several moments
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00:11:02,640 --> 00:11:06,720
that illustrate the impact of of
the Spark members.
183
00:11:06,920 --> 00:11:12,040
For example, a student
independently planning to host a
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00:11:12,080 --> 00:11:16,600
town hall, other high school to
talk about public health issues
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00:11:16,920 --> 00:11:20,840
and collect our feedback from
their community.
186
00:11:21,920 --> 00:11:26,760
Another one is their initiative
to submit a proposal to present
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00:11:26,760 --> 00:11:30,320
at a local conference in
reference to Faster in
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00:11:30,320 --> 00:11:35,400
connection and how participating
in a youth based Advisory Board
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00:11:35,600 --> 00:11:37,400
kind of contribute to those
goals.
190
00:11:37,760 --> 00:11:44,360
Now those projects were organic
to the to the youth and they
191
00:11:44,360 --> 00:11:47,680
come as a result of their
engagement with the program.
192
00:11:48,600 --> 00:11:51,720
Now the one that we are really
excited and we cannot wait for
193
00:11:52,080 --> 00:11:56,680
is their participation in
collaboration with the health
194
00:11:56,680 --> 00:12:01,160
district's smoking cessation
program, which is working in
195
00:12:01,160 --> 00:12:06,760
that trying to adopt A no
smoking policy at the College of
196
00:12:06,760 --> 00:12:10,160
Southern Nevada and to make sure
that they have a small a smoke
197
00:12:10,160 --> 00:12:13,520
free campus.
CSN is the largest serving
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00:12:13,520 --> 00:12:19,480
institution of youth here at the
Nevada Higher Education System.
199
00:12:19,920 --> 00:12:24,240
So that's going to create a
great impact with with the youth
200
00:12:24,240 --> 00:12:26,960
population.
It took approximately 20 years
201
00:12:27,160 --> 00:12:31,480
to pass a similar policy at
UNLV, but we are students
202
00:12:31,480 --> 00:12:35,800
engagement and focus outreach.
Our cessation program will
203
00:12:35,800 --> 00:12:40,120
probably pass the the policy in
within the next six months.
204
00:12:40,240 --> 00:12:41,680
So we're really excited about
that.
205
00:12:42,440 --> 00:12:46,800
So the program is been supported
by FIG funding and I'm wondering
206
00:12:46,800 --> 00:12:51,440
how is, is that going to be a
sustainable model moving forward
207
00:12:51,680 --> 00:12:55,840
and how how do you see the the
program in in the future?
208
00:12:56,120 --> 00:12:58,200
Yeah.
No, this, this is not the first
209
00:12:58,240 --> 00:13:01,360
time that organization has used
advisory boards.
210
00:13:01,640 --> 00:13:05,400
But what is distinctive and
special about this program is
211
00:13:05,400 --> 00:13:10,560
that we're really not focusing
on one project, on one project
212
00:13:10,560 --> 00:13:14,600
or problem or or private program
area.
213
00:13:14,800 --> 00:13:17,760
We're really looking at public
health as a service to the
214
00:13:17,760 --> 00:13:22,240
community and why it's important
for you to become involved in
215
00:13:22,240 --> 00:13:23,520
that.
In that process.
216
00:13:24,360 --> 00:13:27,360
We are currently recruiting for
our second cohort.
217
00:13:27,760 --> 00:13:30,960
So next school year, at the
beginning of next school year,
218
00:13:30,960 --> 00:13:33,360
we're going to be implementing
the second year.
219
00:13:33,840 --> 00:13:38,360
And what we are looking forward
to is that current members have
220
00:13:38,360 --> 00:13:42,920
voiced their desire of for
opportunities around mentorship
221
00:13:42,920 --> 00:13:46,600
or probably even internships.
So we are in the initial phases
222
00:13:46,600 --> 00:13:49,960
of kind of thinking what that
model could look like to make
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sure that we, we, we keep them
engaged and we kind of develop
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a, a workforce, a public health
workforce in our community.
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So sustainability with
everything is, is going to
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require funding.
We're looking at, you know,
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community grants or public
foundations and of course
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organizational support to
continue the work.
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Funding like FIG is important
because it really allow us to be
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flexible and and not be
reactive.
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So as the needs of the community
evolve, we can change with those
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and be be able to actively be
responsive to the needs that the
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community may have.
Xavier Foster is HealthEquity
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coordinator at the Southern
Nevada Health District.
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Earlier we heard from Heidi
Laird, a health educator and
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suicide awareness coordinator in
the Office of Disease
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Surveillance and Control, also
at the Southern Nevada Health
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District.
This has been another FIG impact
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report, part of the Public
Health Review MORNING EDITION.
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I'm John Sheehan for the
Association of State and
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Territorial Health Officials.