449: PH’s Data Challenge, Scholarly Advice

JANSON SILVERS: 

This is Public Health Review Morning Edition for Tuesday, June 27, 2023. I'm Janson Silvers. Now, today's news from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.

WILLIAM KASSLER: 

Public health is data rich and information poor. We have all of these data points. But it's incomplete. It's messy. It's sloppy, it's poor quality.

JANSON SILVERS: 

Dr. Bill Kassler is an ASTHO alum and career public health leader.

WILLIAM KASSLER: 

Early in the HIV epidemic, we were struggling to count cases. We were struggling to put an HIV surveillance program in place in part because of the stigma, and in part because people didn't want to be identified.

JANSON SILVERS: 

Today, Kassler is convinced data can revolutionize public health practice.

WILLIAM KASSLER: 

Right now, we have emerging tools and emerging data that I believe can really fulfill a long held dream of public health of adopting an upstream approach, looking at data, integrating clinical data, with behavioral data, with place-based data. Not only on community deprivation, but community assets on individuals' health-related social needs, looking at all of that data in order to drive public health operations, and target the resources where they're most effective and most needed.

JANSON SILVERS: 

Kassler was in Chicago last month attending ASTHO's TechXpo. He says the challenge is not with technology.

WILLIAM KASSLER: 

I look at this now as an individual sociological and organizational challenge. Right, we have to figure out what the biases are in the data and be very much aware of that. We have to figure out how organizations and individuals can share that data and collaborate around that information, while still making sure that privacy is protected.

JANSON SILVERS: 

Kassler was most recently Chief Medical Officer at Palantir Technologies, a TechXpo sponsor. He is now retired.

Krystle White manages health equity outcomes in Gaston County, North Carolina. She also is a recent graduate of ASTHO's Diverse Executives Leading in Public Health program. Robert Johnson met with her during her visit to the ASTHO TechXpo last month in Chicago. Here's what she told him about the program.

ROBERT JOHNSON: 

You're another one of the amazing graduates of the latest cohort in the Diverse Executives Leading in Public Health program that we've had a chance to talk with here on the sidelines of the TechXpo in Chicago. Tell us about the program, what it has done for you.

KRYSTLE WHITE: 

Well, it's really dynamic. The fact that DELPH is, for one, looking to pretty much find individuals from literally throughout the country that have like-minded goals in the way that we think as far as equity is concerned has been amazing. I think one of the things especially in the county that I live in, we do not have a lot of professional development opportunities where you can have those same individuals who are doing that great work that you're doing, all in one space. So that's one opportunity I think that DELPH is stellar and making sure that we have that. And I mean, from diversity, not only demographically, but just backgrounds as well. We have data individuals, we have individuals in environmental health, we have, you know, local health officials. So, it's great to just see that we can see the dynamics and the diversity and like I said, the backgrounds.

ROBERT JOHNSON: 

So, it was a real opportunity then for you to be able to cohort with people who maybe you wouldn't necessarily get the chance to meet or talk with if you just stayed in your job there in North Carolina.

KRYSTLE WHITE: 

Oh, absolutely. And the fact that, for the most part, when you're in professional development or any type of professional group, it's typically within your region. So, a lot of times some of the same things that you're hearing in that area, you may not necessarily know what's going on in the other side of the country. So, knowing that we have individuals on the West Coast, that are kind of tapping into some of those same disciplines and things that we're working on over in North Carolina, is amazing.

ROBERT JOHNSON: 

How are you using what you've learned over the last year or so in your job now? What lessons from the DELPH program are you able to apply?

KRYSTLE WHITE: 

Well, a number of different things. I can say, one, the power of delegation. So, learning that within DELPH they are really wanting to pour into you as not only professionally but as a person. And so, having different sessions, even have an executive coach, being able to you know, help us through some of these different barriers that we may experience in our job, has been amazing. And so, I think that's one of the biggest things is just seeing that again, you have so many dynamic backgrounds of individuals who are willing to support you in what you're doing and wanting to provide you opportunities to see beyond just the general lens you have. And so, one thing I think outside of delegation is being able to be a very dynamic leader in speaking, and being able to provide, I guess, not just around health equity, but other factors as well as far as policy development and sustainability. And so I think that was one of the biggest things that I was looking for outside of the general just networking opportunities was being able to, you know, have those sustainable, actionable items that we can take within our work, and not just something that's going to be relevant for the current moment. So, the future in public health is in DELPH, in my opinion.

ROBERT JOHNSON: 

Did you learn anything or encounter any lesson that was surprising to you that you didn't expect that you found yourself thinking, 'Wow, I'm really glad I did this.' 

KRYSTLE WHITE: 

I don't know if it's anything necessarily surprising, but I have, I'll even just speak on some of the opportunities we've had here at the TechXpo, just this last, not keynote, but our lunch session in speaking about how, you know, again, when we're looking to find the way that we're collecting data to help drive policies is a big deal, too. So we want to make sure that we're looking beyond what's the traditional aspect of creating those different solutions for public health in general. And so I thought it was really dynamic to have the speakers tell us different ways that they've been doing that in their respective areas. So that's one way I can say that DELPH has kind of given me something different.

ROBERT JOHNSON: 

Now that you've gone through the program and graduated, what would you say to people who might be thinking about it? I assume you would encourage them to sign up.

KRYSTLE WHITE: 

And I have and, you know, surprisingly, someone in the third cohort is one of my colleagues. So, Qian is actually in cohort three, and him and I both work in the DE&I space in North Carolina, and ironically in the same region. And so I was, you know, bragging about this program some time ago. And he told me, he said, you're part of the reason why I thought about even looking into this. So I have been singing the praises of DELPH already. And now, look, we have someone that I know in the next cohort.

ROBERT JOHNSON: 

You might be able to get some finder's fees for that.

KRYSTLE WHITE: 

[Laughing] Don't tell anyone but I agree with you.

ROBERT JOHNSON: 

Yeah, well, there we go. Congratulations on your graduation and we look forward to hearing more about how you do as you take these lessons forward.

KRYSTLE WHITE: 

Absolutely. Thank you so much.

JANSON SILVERS: 

Also, today, the CDC has a new report on cases of a life threatening illness among people living with HIV. Amy Rubis, an epidemiologist with the CDC explains what they found.

AMY RUBIS: 

So, this report summarizes data on meningococcal disease cases among people with HIV in the United States. And based on early 2022 data, we saw an increase in cases among people with HIV compared to the previous five years.

JANSON SILVERS: 

Rubis says it's important for people with HIV to get vaccinated.

AMY RUBIS:  

We know that people with HIV infection have an increased risk for meningococcal disease and that most meningococcal disease cases reported among people with HIV are serogroups C, W or Y. So, getting MenACWY vaccine is really the best way to prevent meningococcal disease.

JANSON SILVERS: 

If you're interested in reading more, we have the link to the full report in the show notes.

Finally, this morning, promoting health equity has been on the minds of public health leaders and a huge part of the puzzle is data. ASTHO has a new blog post explaining what needs to change to achieve better health equity metrics. You can find a link to the blog 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 Janson Silvers, you're listening to Public Health Review Morning Edition. Have a great day.