400: Four Trust Strategies, Modernizing STI Approaches

ROBERT JOHNSON:

This is Public Health Review Morning Edition for Monday, April 17, 2023. I'm Robert Johnson.

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

LAQUANDRA NESBITT:

You know, trust is an extremely valuable currency in our society and we must value it.

JOHNSON:

That's Dr. LaQuanda Nesbitt, senior associate dean at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health. She writes about trust in a new article for Health Affairs.

NESBITT:

Once it's ours, we must protect it and continue to nurture it. And when it's lost, we should do everything that we can to regain it and recognize again its importance and its value.

JOHNSON:

Nesbitt identifies four strategies that she thinks could help restore trust in public health agencies.

NESBITT:

One is to make sure that leadership and diversity of leadership reflects the communities that we're serving; that we can have timely and effective communication; that we are doing community outreach and engagement in a way that is mutually beneficial—not that we are doing things for community, but we are doing things with community; and that we are delivering and demonstrating results for the people that we serve.

JOHNSON:

You can read Dr. Nesbitt's article in Health Affairs using the link in the show notes.

Sexually transmitted infections, or STIs, continue to pose a serious risk to the health of people across the U.S. The CDC released new data last week showing cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis on the rise between 2020 and 2021.

Dr. Leandro Mena is director of the division of STD Prevention at the CDC.

LEANDRO MENA:

But another challenge is that STD control approaches, you know, have really remained unchanged since the 1930s.

JOHNSON:

Mena says the answer is an approach that addresses the root causes of STIs.

MENA:

So for these diseases, it is critical for programs to work together to discover new and innovative ways to use resources wisely and efficiently. Take advantage of multiple disciplines and share knowledge and promote holistic, equitable approaches that go beyond the disease to address the health and well being of the individual.

JOHNSON:

Among the possible solutions, whole-person care and status-neutral care for STI treatment and prevention.

MENA:

When we talk about whole-person care, we're talking about holistic, patient-centered care that really focuses on the whole person rather than just the specific disease. It means helping empower individuals and families and communities and populations, really to improve their health in multiple interconnected areas that include their biological, and behavioral, and social, environmental factors.

JOHNSON:

Hear more of the conversation with Dr. Mena in a new episode of the Public Health Review podcast, coming soon everywhere you stream audio.

Right now, you can read the CDC's latest data on STIs using the link in the show notes.

Also today, communities can design spaces that encourage healthy physical activity. O'Keyla Cooper has that story.

O’KEYLA COOPER:

Physical activity is an important way to improve overall health, and states have many opportunities to support healthy and inclusive community design and expand access to outdoor recreation. Community design strategies can increase the availability of safe and accessible outdoor spaces and reduce inactivity rates by creating or changing environmental characteristics.

To learn more, read the full blog using the link in the show notes.

JOHNSON:

Finally this morning, Amazon Web Services (AWS) is the latest gold sponsor of ASTHO's TechXpo and Futures Forum coming up next month in Chicago. AWS helps agencies break down silos, create strategic visions, and ensure system resiliency and scalability. You can meet AWS and other leading public health innovators if you sign up to attend the event planned for May 23-25. Learn more about AWS and sign up using the links in the show notes.

That will do it for today's newscast, episode number 400. We've been at this almost two years and the audience is getting bigger every day. We appreciate the time we spend together each morning; and if you like what we're doing, we hope that you'll tell others about us. On that note, we promise to be 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.