474: Overdose Strategies, Pregnancy Risk Data

ROBERT JOHNSON: 

This is the award-winning Public Health Review Morning Edition for Thursday, August 3, 2023. I'm Robert Johnson. Now, today's news from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.

VICTORIA PLESS: 

These policies are focused on how to support state and territorial health agencies in reducing overdose death rates.

JOHNSON: 

There are many ways to reduce overdoses across the country. ASTHO's Victoria Pless says jurisdictions can choose from strategies including naloxone distribution, test strips, and syringe service programs.

PLESS: 

We figured these programs would be a great opportunity for state and territorial health agencies who maybe have different political backgrounds or specific jurisdictional assets, so that they could select what best fit for their jurisdictional needs.

JOHNSON: 

The recommendations are part of a new article published in the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice. Pless says community needs ought to be directed by the policy mix.

PLESS: 

Health agencies should engage with community members and people with lived or living experience to understand their specific needs and their community strengths. Health agencies can also use their data to direct resources to historically underfunded communities to make sure that we're reaching those who are in the highest need groups.

JOHNSON: 

Pless adds approaches to the overdose response have changed over the years, and for the better.

PLESS: 

Older policies that may have been more stigmatizing or may have been more problematic have been around for a long time. And these policies continue to build on the evidence. They support health agencies and their activities in a way that allows for us to move forward from more focus on punishment and enforcement and more on understanding the overall health and well-being of people who use drugs or people with a substance use disorder.

JOHNSON: 

You can read the article using the link in the show notes.

A lack of data affects all sectors of public health, including maternal and child health. ASTHO's Stephanie Strahle says the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System, or PRAMS, looks to incorporate data from several different public health systems.

STEPHANY STRAHLE: 

So, when you're working with administrative datasets like birth certificates, and think, Medicaid and WIC, they don't really cover social determinants of health like income and experiences of racism. You're also missing data on access to perinatal services, and childcare, and other systems of support that really add context to the maternal and child health experience. So, adding in that data from public health surveillance systems that really capture that more experiential data, can really help identify more upstream solutions that get to the root of inequities.

JOHNSON: 

A new ASTHO brief examines how individual states have successfully used the monitoring system to create better outcomes.

STRAHLE: 

If we're going to tell the stories of those impacted by disparities in maternal and child health outcomes in the most accurate light as possible, you know, it's important we are using robust data. And having this valuable information from data linkages, it helps create those policies and programs that address disparities appropriately.

JOHNSON: 

Strahle says the goal is to make sure all parents get the help they need.

STRAHLE: 

You really want to help communities bring voice to the experiences that they're having within healthcare, and applying that racial equity lens can help build out those robust policy recommendations and programs that address these maternal and child health outcomes equitably.

JOHNSON: 

You can read more and download the brief by using the link in the show notes.

Finally, this morning, stay in touch with the latest public health news in Congress and state legislatures when you sign up to receive ASTHO's Legislative Alert emails. Join the list using 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.