430: Pandemic Recovery Tips, Data Modernization Partnerships

ROBERT JOHNSON: 

This is Public Health Review Morning Edition for Tuesday, May 30, 2023. I'm Robert Johnson.

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

TAMMY MCCOY-ARBALLO: 

The more we're aware of how mental health challenges show themselves in the workplace, the more willing and more able we are to address them.

JOHNSON: 

Dr. Tammy McCoy-Arballo is a clinical forensic psychologist working to help people recover from the mental impacts of the pandemic.

MCCOY-ARBALLO: 

I think people are struggling with a variety of issues from the pandemic: the social isolation, the poor boundaries with work life balance, the depression, the anxiety, the fear. Public health was targeted in so many communities, and the recovery is just beginning and it's in its infancy.

JOHNSON: 

McCoy-Arballo says leaders can do simple things to help their teams recover.

MCCOY-ARBALLO: 

Maybe during meetings, instead of making the meeting all about the work, make it about coming together as a cohesive group that's there to bolster each other, right. So maybe do a gratitude exercise, maybe engage in a mindfulness exercise. Gratitude can be as simple as what are you grateful for today. Another exercise could just be, "Hey, it's Thursday, what are we planning for the weekend? What kind of fun things are we doing?" And encouraging that.

JOHNSON: 

The pandemic did a lot of damage. McCoy-Arballo says recovery will take time,

MCCOY-ARBALLO: 

The recovery has just begun. And we need to be gentle with ourselves and patient with ourselves. And we need to be open to the fact that we might not know what we don't know. And for leaders, there's never been a more important time to be tuning into your humanity with your teams. They need you. They need you more than ever.

JOHNSON: 

ASTHO has a landing page with information for leaders who want to help their teams recover—we have the link to the page in the show notes.

Partnerships are just as important in the data modernization effort as computers and Ethernet cables. ASTHO's Elizabeth Ruebush tells us why in a conversation recorded last week at the TechXpo in Chicago.

We're on the sidelines of TechXpo in Chicago, talking about data and modernization of data, infrastructure, all of those things that are on the minds of public health people everywhere. Today, something that you're talking about in relation to all that is partnerships. How does a partnership play into this whole mix?

RUEBUSH: 

Sure. You know, I think we've all realized as a community that to get this work done—this important but challenging work of data modernization, looking at our surveillance and information systems, improving our infrastructure, and moving forward with better systems and tools that we've had previously—we recognize that we can't do this work alone.

And so, what that's meant, in a lot of ways, is expanding partnerships, looking to non-traditional partners. And I see a lot of that happening in the conversations and presentations interactions here at the TechXpo and Futures Forum. We've pulled together partners from the private sector, professional services, technology vendors, working with public health, trying to move this work forward. And I think we all realize that it's going to take a joint effort, and it's going to take working with groups and identifying solutions that haven't necessarily been available to public health previously to move this forward.

JOHNSON: 

We hear a lot of talk about partnerships in public health when it comes to getting people vaccinated or dealing with some outbreaks, more on the clinical and health delivery side of things. You're saying that we need partnerships with software companies, tech companies, the private sector doing this work already for other industries and fields.

RUEBUSH: 

Exactly. What public health is great at is driving forward the mission to protect and save lives. We need to recognize—or what I think we do recognize—is that there are other systems, needs, that there are other groups out in this ecosystem that they already do well, solutions that have already been identified and deployed in different sectors that could be adapted and applied within public health. So, in order for public health to keep on doing the work that we do well, it's important to recognize where there are skills and solutions and expertise from some of these other partners that we need to engage.

JOHNSON: 

Is that tough to do? Is it hard to find those partners, given what public health is traditionally trained to do?

RUEBUSH: 

I think today it doesn't feel that hard because we have the right people at this event, talking with one another, sharing what they're working on, identifying shared interests and potential opportunities. So I think at events like the Public Health TechXpo and Futures Forum, it doesn't feel as hard because it makes that world a little bit smaller. It connects those folks to one another and starts or continues those conversations.

Historically, though, I would say that that has been a challenge, because when we look at the public and private sector, missions might not always immediately or obviously align. So I think it takes more conversation to understand where there might be shared interests, solutions that can meet the needs of public health, and relationship building to build that trust that's needed in a strong collaboration to move forward.

JOHNSON: 

Are both parties in this conversation willing and interested in having those relationships?

RUEBUSH: 

I think so. Folks are at different stages in their thought process and thinking around all of this. But I think with the folks that we have gathered here at this event, we do see a willingness to engage in those conversations, explore, and some great examples of what can be accomplished when groups work together.

So I think people are at different stages. There are a number of factors that might influence their interest or readiness to engage in new partnerships that can relate to their jurisdictional context, existing relationships, or past experiences they might have had, the resources that they may or may not have available to drive those partnerships and sustain them moving forward. So there are there are a lot of factors that can play into whether or not public health might feel we're ready or well positioned to engage in these new partnerships.

But I do think the constellation of participants that we have at this event, both in person and virtually, I think, is a good testament to the fact that public health does recognize that these types of partnerships are important to move forward. They're engaging in these conversations, and this is this is a start of it. The work continues between and after these events, but I do think that this event is a testament to that willingness and interest.

JOHNSON: 

Also today, the story of the once polluted Chicago River and its impact on public health in the Windy City more than 100 years ago was a topic of discussion at TechXpo last week. You can read why this tale is relevant today in a new ASTHO blog article. There's a link in the show notes.

Finally this morning, stay informed about everything happening in public health. Sign up for ASTHO's Public Health Weekly email newsletter. The link is 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.