492: Breastfeeding Equity, TFAH’s New Podcast

ROBERT JOHNSON: 

This is the award-winning Public Health Review Morning Edition for Tuesday, August 29, 2023. I'm Robert Johnson. Now, today's news from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.

HEATHER HAMNER: 

Breastfeeding Awareness Month is a really important opportunity for CDC and others in the field to bring awareness to the health benefits of breastfeeding and support for those who choose to breastfeed.

JOHNSON: 

August is Breastfeeding Awareness Month, a chance to remind people of the benefits of the practice. Heather Hamner is with the CDC. She says breastfeeding rates are not as high as they could be.

HAMNER: 

It's recommended that infants are exclusively breastfed for the first six months. However, our data shows that only about a quarter of infants in the United States are breastfeeding exclusively at six months. We've also seen that unfortunately, disparities by race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status persist.

JOHNSON: 

Hamner says the CDC is working with many partners to address those disparities.

HAMNER: 

So, we partner with the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, or ASTHO, to help states develop and implement innovative strategies that promote equity and reduce disparities in breastfeeding. We also fund state and local governments to help protect, promote, and support breastfeeding through our racial and ethnic approaches to community health, or REACH program.

JOHNSON: 

Hamner wants health officials to refer local organizations to the Breastfeeding Support Blueprint, a guide created by the National Association of County and City Health Officials in coordination with the U.S. Breastfeeding Committee.

HAMNER: 

It's really designed for local level organizations that work with pregnant and postpartum families. And it provides evidence-based steps that communities can take to promote, protect, and support breastfeeding. So, a couple of steps that the blueprint provides guidance on include creating environments that proactively promote, protect, and support breastfeeding.

JOHNSON: 

You can learn more about the CDCs work in this area and download your copy of the blueprint using the links in the show notes.

The Trust for America's Health, or TFAH, has launched a new podcast. It'll highlight TFAH's work in the age-friendly public health systems movement.

NADINE GRACIA:

As this work has expanded, we wanted to highlight some of the outstanding contributors to the field of healthy aging. That's why we're so excited to launch the Age-Friendly Public Health Systems, or AFPHS, quarterly podcast with our first guest, an incredible leader and partner who has been a champion for changing the landscape of Health and Aging.

JOHNSON: 

TFAH President and CEO, Dr. J. Nadine Gracia, does the interviews her inaugural guest is Dr. Terry Fulmer, president of the John A. Hartford Foundation.

TERRY FULMER: 

When you get it right for older adults, you're likely to get it right for everyone. And you're certainly supporting family caregivers in addressing sometimes very serious illness that's out there in the community.

JOHNSON: 

Among the topics covered, Gracia and Fulmer discuss an approach that in many ways inspires the work.

FULMER: 

Age-friendly public health uses its own framework, the six C's. Now, I was not aware of that, but I love them. That's creating and leading policy and system change, connecting and convening stakeholders, coordinating existing services, collecting and using data, and communicating public health information, and complementing existing health-promoting programs, all focused on older adults.

JOHNSON: 

You can listen to the first episode of TFAH's new podcast using the link in the show notes.

Also today, ASTHO President Dr. Anne Zink is quoted in The Hill talking about the recent approval of RSV vaccines and the challenges of administering them to patients, given the RSV season is about to get underway. You can read the article using the link in the show notes.

Finally this morning, ASTHO members are among those who are sharing their thoughts about work to improve the safety of dialysis. O'Keyla Cooper has more.

O'KEYLA COOPER: 

In June 2023, to Making Dialysis Safer for Patients Coalition convened with public health departments and dialysis facilities to discuss infection prevention and patient safety and dialysis. ASTHO interviewed participants to gain insights into their involvement in ensuring dialysis safety and how the coalition has influenced their efforts. Watch the full interview by clicking the link in the show notes.

JOHNSON: 

Just a reminder, before we go, if you have a minute, please take the time to give us a review. We'd like to know what you think.

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.