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Robin Matthies, ASTHO’s Director for Public and Behavioral Health Integration, encourages ASTHO members to review a CDC report that says teen girls in the U.S. are in crisis; Harold Gil, a graduate of ASTHO’s Diverse Executives Leading in Public...
Robin Matthies, ASTHO’s Director for Public and Behavioral Health Integration, encourages ASTHO members to review a CDC report that says teen girls in the U.S. are in crisis; Harold Gil, a graduate of ASTHO’s Diverse Executives Leading in Public Health program, was inspired by the program to open his own informatics business; today is your last chance to get a seat in this afternoon’s Insight and Inspiration event; and ASTHO has a few job openings that you can apply for today.
CDC Webpage: Youth Risk Behavior Survey
ASTHO Blog Article: The Return on Investment of Time Spent on Your Own Leadership Development
ASTHO Webpage: Insight and Inspiration: Conversations for Public Health Leaders
ASTHO Webpage: Careers at ASTHO
ROBERT JOHNSON:
This is Public Health Review Morning Edition for Wednesday, February 22, 2023. I'm Robert Johnson.
Now, today's news around the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.
ROBIN MATTHIES:
So, 57% of teen girls reported feeling persistently sad or hopeless in 2021, nearly double the rate reported by teen boys. And nearly one in three teen girls seriously considered attempting suicide.
JOHNSON:
ASTHO's Robin Matthies on a new CDC report that says teen girls in the U.S. are in crisis.
MATTHIES:
Both of those rates increased dramatically over the past decade, according to the CDC. And then, 69% of lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, questioning youth reported feeling persistently sad or hopeless in 2021 and 45% seriously considered suicide while 22% actually attempted suicide. And then, among racial and ethnic groups, American Indian or Alaska Native youth face the most sexual violence in comparison to their peers.
JOHNSON:
According to the report, Matthies says teen boys, on the other hand, appear to be making connections.
MATTHIES:
Teen boys reported feeling more connected at school than teen girls. Teen boys also reported having more social connections with folks than teen girls did. And teen girls it seems were using social media more to connect with people, and having interest in contact is really important to create better outcomes, I think, for individuals who are struggling.
JOHNSON:
Matthies encourages ASTHO members to review the report and act on policies that address the concerns.
MATTHIES:
It's also crucial that we continue to talk about protective factors for young people—like I said, like feeling connected to others, and like feeling like they matter, having a parental caregiver, teacher support them—all very important.
And then, as I said, having in-person contact, not just social media networking, can vastly improve outcomes for young people. And then, also they can support and promote policies that support young people who are struggling with mental health conditions, substance use, and suicidal behaviors, things like socioeconomic support policies and anti-bullying policies—just a couple of examples.
JOHNSON:
You can read the report using the link in the show notes.
Many public health professionals who've already graduated from ASTHO's Diverse Executives Leading in Public Health program have realized promotions and new career opportunities. Harold Gil is one of those graduates—he opened a business.
HAROLD GIL:
It was in the monthly conversations of getting to know my fellow DELPH scholars where we got to know each other and I shared my ideas for the field of public health informatics with them, and the two of them directly encouraged me to think about creating my own job.
JOHNSON:
Gil's new company is called Informatics Innovation. He says he probably wouldn't have gone out on his own had he not been part of the program.
GIL:
My experience was incredibly rewarding. Every month I got to hear from one or two nationally recognized leaders in public health whose work intersected with health equity.
JOHNSON:
Gil says he was motivated by everything he learned while in the program.
GIL:
In those monthly meetings with public health leaders, I would hear about their successes and their challenges that they experienced—sometimes successes, sometimes failures—and it taught me that even when you do encounter failures, that you're in good company.
JOHNSON:
The deadline to apply is February 28. Get more information using the link in the show notes.
Also, you can read a new blog article on leadership written by to other program graduates. That link is in the show notes as well.
In other news, today is your last chance to get a seat in this afternoon's Insight and Inspiration event. Don't miss what Dr. Kemia Sarraf has to say about managing trauma and stress. The online event begins at 3 p.m. Eastern Time. Sign up now using the link in the show notes.
Finally this morning, ASTHO has a few job openings. The organization is hiring a director of leadership events and a manager of strategic partnerships. It's also on the lookout for interns. Learn more using the link in the show notes.
That'll do it for today's newscast. We're 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.
