446: Supporting Tribal Nations, Workforce Goes Back to School

JANSON SILVERS: 

This is Public Health Review Morning Edition for Thursday, June 22, 2023. I'm Janson Silvers. Now, today's news from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.

LAURA CHANCHIEN PARAJON: 

So, part of what we're doing with the public health infrastructure funds is actually devoting some of that money to building up our tribal liaison office.

JANSON SILVERS: 

New Mexico's Dr. Laura Chanchien Parajon on plans to invest public health infrastructure grant dollars into resources for tribal communities.

LAURA CHANCHIEN PARAJON: 

That's going to allow us to do what we really need to do with our tribes, pueblos, and nations. And that is not just listen to them, but really work with them in collaboration with them to really respond as we should to what they want to do with the public health infrastructure.

JANSON SILVERS: 

New Mexico has 23 federally recognized tribes Parajon says communities meeting at a recent summit said they wanted better access to health services.

LAURA CHANCHIEN PARAJON: 

We also heard that our tribes, pueblos, and nations really wanted a better way to get data, because that is their data, right? Any kind of data, we need to respect data sovereignty, which means that tribes, pueblos, and nations they are their own sovereign nations. And that's their data. So, how can we, as a state health department, make sure that we get their data back to them in a way that tribes, pueblos, and nations want the data?

JANSON SILVERS: 

The goal, says Parajon, is to do a better job working alongside New Mexico's sovereign nations.

LAURA CHANCHIEN PARAJON: 

There have been so many things we've done wrong, as governments to our tribal nations. It's on us as public health to really say, 'Hey, it's on us to, to reach out to make sure that we do the things and respond to the requests of our sovereign nations in a way that honors that State Tribal Collaboration Act.'

JANSON SILVERS: 

Public health workers in Shelby County, Tennessee are excited about a new program to send them back to school. Robert Johnson visits with Dr. Michelle Taylor, Director of the Health Department there about a plan to invest infrastructure grant dollars into the department's people.

ROBERT JOHNSON: 

You have come up with an innovative way to address the public health workforce challenge in your jurisdiction. Tell us what that is.

MICHELLE TAYLOR: 

Well, we're super excited about this public health infrastructure grant. And one of the ways we're going to be using this funding is to offer advanced degrees to some of our employees: Master's, PhDs, and graduate certificates at the University of Memphis' is School of Public Health. We've partnered with the University of Memphis and the Dean of the School of Public Health, Dr. Ashish Joshi to make this happen and we're super excited about this opportunity for our employees.

ROBERT JOHNSON: 

And the employees are very interested in this.

MICHELLE TAYLOR: 

They area! So when we first sent out the survey to gauge what the interest was, out of 500 employed individuals at Shelby County Health Department right now, 250 filled out the survey saying that they were interested in pursuing advanced education. And that was so encouraging. And it actually proved what we already knew. We had been polling our employees at all staff meetings to find out what was of interest to them to increase morale, and, frankly, to develop them further in their careers. And to a person, most of them anecdotally said, 'I want to go back to school, but the cost of education and the time commitment of education are barriers for me.' And so being able to put this into our grant application, and then get it funded, has been absolutely amazing for us. And we have 18 employees who met all of the eligibility requirements for admission into University of Memphis, and they will be starting their degree programs in the fall.

ROBERT JOHNSON: 

And the neat thing about it, they work for you already. So you don't have to wait for them to graduate.

MICHELLE TAYLOR: 

Absolutely! And so that's the other thing. We had an individual in the audience yesterday that asked, 'Well, are they going to get a promotion out of this when they finish the degree? Are they going to get a pay raise?' And what I explained was that, you know, while we can't promise that, even I am an example of working your way up in the Shelby County Health Department. So, I've worked there before, about six years ago, I was the deputy administrator for maternal and child health. And before that, I was a part-time physician there. And I was working on my Doctorate in Public Health while I was working at the Shelby County Health Department. And the reason I was able to do that was because I had a scholarship to allow me to have the time to work and be a student. And so we know that this funding is so important for our employees, many of whom have been at the Shelby County Health Department for at least five to 10 years, and want to advance in their careers, but needed that extra boost to be able to go back to school,

ROBERT JOHNSON: 

You presented this idea here in Chicago at an ASTHO meeting, what's been the reaction from your colleagues?

MICHELLE TAYLOR: 

Oh, my goodness, everybody has just been so complimentary of what we're trying to do here. And it's because we know how dedicated public health professionals are to the work. And we know that a lot of people who enter the field, work their way up, do all kinds of different things across the span of public health. And so when you're able to have an employee, who really does want to advance their career, and does want to go back to school, but may not have the money or the time to do it, to be able to do that in real time is something very novel for especially local health departments.

ROBERT JOHNSON: 

You may be onto something here.

MICHELLE TAYLOR: 

I hope so! I hope so. And we actually have found also in Shelby County, that we now have our county elected officials talking about how they can come up with additional funding to do something similar county wide, where they would at least be able to give some tuition assistance to Shelby County government employees across divisions. And so we're super excited about that, because we're hoping that us being able to do this for Health Department employees will be the impetus for other workforces in Shelby County, and it'll make everybody's lives better there.

ROBERT JOHNSON: 

Thank you for sharing this idea. And I'm sure that you'll be getting some phone calls after people hear this.

MICHELLE TAYLOR: 

Oh, absolutely! I'm just super proud of our workforce. They deserve this. It's long overdue, and I'm just glad we're able to do it.

JANSON SILVERS: 

Also today, Mosquito Control Awareness Week is going on now through June 24. Dr. Vicki Kramer with the California Department of Public Health details why awareness of the dangers of mosquitoes is so important.

VICKI KRAMER: 

West Nile virus poses the greatest risk to California amongst the mosquito borne diseases that have been identified here. We've had over 7,500 human cases identified since the virus first entered the state in 2003. And also numerous fatalities, almost 400 people, have died from West Nile virus in the state.

JANSON SILVERS: 

California is already working hard to make sure the public is informed.

VICKI KRAMER: 

So, California has a comprehensive surveillance program so that we can detect and monitor virus activity. We test mosquitoes, we test dead birds, we test sentinel chickens, and all of that information is included on our website, which is updated weekly.

JANSON SILVERS: 

You can learn more about how to monitor and control the spread of mosquito borne diseases using the link in the show notes.

Finally, this morning, get this podcast delivered to your mobile device weekdays at 5:00 AM. Just follow us on your favorite podcast player. There's a button on the screen where you're playing this newscast right now. Select it and you'll never miss another episode. That'll do it for today's newscast. We're back tomorrow morning with more ASTHO news and information. I'm Janssen Silvers. You're listening to Public Health Review Morning Edition. Have a great day.