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Geetika Nadkarni, ASTHO’s Director of Chronic Infectious Disease, shares the award-winning Partnering for Vaccine Equity project which aims to increase vaccinations among diverse communities; Meredith Sussman, Vaccine Equity Project Manager for...
Geetika Nadkarni, ASTHO’s Director of Chronic Infectious Disease, shares the award-winning Partnering for Vaccine Equity project which aims to increase vaccinations among diverse communities; Meredith Sussman, Vaccine Equity Project Manager for the Palmetto Community Action Partnership, says the vaccine equity project has made new collaboration possible; Kai Tao, Co-founder and Principal of Impact and Innovation for Illinois Contraceptive Access Now; and sign up for ASTHO’s Public Health Weekly email newsletters.
ASTHO Webpage: Partnering with Community Action Agencies Can Improve Trust in Vaccines
Palmetto Community Action Partnership
ASTHO Webpage: Connecting Your Communities to Family Planning Coverage
ASTHO Webpage: Public Health Weekly email newsletters
ROBERT JOHNSON:
This is the award-winning Public Health Review Morning Edition for Tuesday, August 1, 2023. I'm Robert Johnson. Now, today's news from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.
GEETIKA NADKARNI:
So, I think receiving this award validates the approach that we've been using in this project, which is using locally tailored evidence based strategies to reduce vaccination disparities among racial and ethnic minorities.
JOHNSON:
ASTHO wins a Gold Award from the American Society of Association Executives for work to advance vaccine equity during the pandemic. This is Geetika Nadkarni.
NADKARNI:
So, we partnered with a wide network of national and community based partners to increase vaccinations among communities that either had difficulty accessing the vaccine or were living in areas facing negative public sentiments around vaccinations, especially COVID vaccinations.
JOHNSON:
Nadkarni says the work with community action agencies can serve as the foundation for future public health partnerships.
NADKARNI:
I think by using this approach that we have done for this project, which incorporates localized approaches with cultural relevance, we can actually build on this to reach more communities in the future to achieve greater health equity, but also, you know, put us in a better place to be prepared for future public health emergencies.
JOHNSON:
Read more about the national award and the program in an ASTHO news release. There's a link in the show notes.
The Palmetto Community Action Partnership in South Carolina is one of the five local organizations taking part in ASTHO's award-winning vaccine equity work. Meredith Sussman is Palmetto's vaccine equity project coordinator.
MEREDITH SUSSMAN:
One of the main goals was to build trust across the health and human Services divide because there was a perceived or measurable distrust in, you know, public health measures, particularly in the wake of COVID-19.
JOHNSON:
Sussman agrees with ASTHO that the project can open doors to new collaborations.
SUSSMAN:
I think the greatest lesson from the vaccine equity project is that there's not only an increased demand for collaboration between the health sector and the human service sector, but there's an increase in willingness and we see that we can take our services further and that we can provide more of a wraparound service delivery model to the most vulnerable populations if we come together across the sectors and make the best use of our expertise, the services that we administer in our resources.
JOHNSON:
Read more about the Palmetto Community Action Partnership using the link in the show notes.
Also today, family planning coverage can be too expensive for many people, but there are ways to leverage Medicaid to help them access services. Kai Tao is with Illinois contraceptive access now, a statewide initiative that works to make it easier for people to get birth control.
KAI TAO:
Medicaid family planning, State Plan Amendments - or SPAs - and waivers can remove the financial barriers to birth control and birth control-related services which are critical for the reproductive well being of a person.
JOHNSON:
Tao says there's a big difference between Medicaid waivers and amendments.
TAO:
One with a section 1115 waiver, sometimes known as a demonstration project, or a permanent state plan amendment, which of course is permanent. Waivers are temporary, time-limited, and allowed states to pilot new approaches initiatives that do not or may not meet federal standards. While SPAs, State Plan Amendments, are permanent changes to the state's Medicaid plan, which can create a wh-whole new class for family planning eligibility.
JOHNSON:
You can hear from Tao and others during an ASTHO webinar tomorrow, August 2 at 1 p.m. Eastern Time. Sign up using the link in the show notes.
Finally, this morning, get your public health news delivered to your email inbox every week with ASTHO'S Public Health Weekly email newsletter. Read more about the news we cover here on the Morning Edition and connect to the latest ASTHO resources. Join the list by clicking the link in the show notes.
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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 the award-winning Public Health Review Morning Edition. Have a great day.
