209: New Tool Predicts PH Risks

ROBERT JOHNSON:

This is Public Health Review Morning Edition for Wednesday June 29th, 2022. I'm Robert Johnson.

Now, today's news from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.

LISA LINES:

We've developed a large database of more than 200 different measures of social determinants of health and using those measures and data science methods in a risk adjustment framework. We've developed several composite measures of social determinants of health, including a measure of life expectancy, drug overdose, mortality rates, and cancer mortality rates.

JOHNSON:

Dr. Lisa Lines with the nonprofit research institute RTI International on a new tool called RTI Rarity built to help public health leaders measure, predict, and respond to social factors that impact population health.

LINES:

One of the things that comes out of our models as one of the top predictors of floor outcomes is tooth loss. And this is something that is not on most people's radars, but it is in fact a huge, huge impact. It has a huge impact on quality of life and life expectancy.

And so, if you have that kind of information, where you have that really granular information, you as a public health practitioner can think about like, "Okay, well maybe we need to, you know, pay dentists more to see patients from those particular census tracks," or, you know, whatever else we could do, provide more clinics in neighborhoods with, you know, lack of clinics.

Obviously, there's big structural issues in our healthcare system, and none of us has all of the levers available to us to make these things happen. But we can at least get a sense and start to understand why we have these huge gaps.

JOHNSON:

One of the benefits of data based on so many inputs, according to Lines, is the ability to focus resources where they're needed most.

LINES:

When we have a really accurate and very highly predictive composite score of the social determinants—which we do—we can narrow in on that. The top percentile of risk neighborhoods where there's really a high risk of a lot of bad health outcomes—you know, either cancer, mortality, or drug overdoses or infant mortality, or, you know, a shorter life span.

So, when you can really narrow in on those kinds of places and direct your dollars and interventions to those places, you can have a bigger bang for your buck.

JOHNSON:

Learn more about the project using the links in the show notes.

A new program in Maine wants to help young people feel more connected to their communities by making sure they know they matter. By doing so, the hope is the state will see a reduction in suicide and overdose rates. The effort is called the Cultivating Mattering For Maine Youth Initiative.

Kini Tinkham leads the Maine Resilience Network. Her group partners with the state, using survey data to help drive action.

KINI TINKHAM:

We have not heard directly from youth around suicide ideation or use of substances. But they certainly have reported that they feel like their voice and their presence does not matter to adults, that people don't look to them for ideas or listen to their solutions.

JOHNSON:

Tinkham says the project engages business and community leaders to rethink policies that may not be fair to young people.

TINKHAM:

An example might be not allowed to be in the park after 7:00 p.m. You know, so they don't have a teen center, they don't have a skateboard park, and they want to gather downtown in the park. But the signage says they have to be out by seven.

Or it might be a business leader who says, you know, move along, you know, no loitering. But it's okay for two adults to stand there and sip on coffee for 20 minutes and chat it up.

JOHNSON:

Learn more about the Maine initiative in a new episode of the Public Health Review podcast, coming tomorrow everywhere you stream audio.

Just as testing helps reduce the spread of the COVID-19 virus, it's also a critical tool in HIV prevention. ASTHO writes about legislation to improve or increase HIV testing and access in a new blog article, now online. You can read it using the link in the show notes.

Finally this morning, ASTHO is hiring the organization has positions for a graphic designer, an analyst in family and child health, and a senior director of public agency research and business intelligence. Get more information by following the link in the show notes.

That'll do it for today's newscast. We are back tomorrow morning with more ASTHO news and information.

I'm Robert Johnson. You're listening to Public Health Review Morning Edition. Have a great day.