526: Youth Substance Use Interventions, PH Jobs Website Attracts Candidates

ROBERT JOHNSON: 

This is the award-winning Public Health Review Morning Edition for Wednesday, October 18, 2023. I'm Robert Johnson. Now, today's news from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.

SARAH STODDARD: 

We wanted to do a rigorous systematic review of family-based interventions that focused on building parenting skills to better understand how well they worked.

JOHNSON: 

Dr. Sarah Stoddard is with the Community Preventive Services Task Force. She says the organization reviewed 60 studies that evaluated interventions focused on families with kids ages 10 to 14. The goal: to determine what can help prevent substance use among young people.

STODDARD: 

The review showed that when families participated in these programs, children and adolescents were less likely to use or start using substances including cannabis, alcohol, tobacco, illicit substances, and the misuse of prescription drugs.

JOHNSON: 

The task force recommendation according to Stoddard is meant to help agencies improve their work in this area.

STODDARD: 

Yet the findings can be used to plan new programs or enhance existing ones, prioritize funding, develop policies, mobilize communities, or inform research proposals.

JOHNSON: 

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

The CDC's new Director, Dr. Mandy Cohen has been in the position about three months and already has traveled to meet with agencies in several states.

MANDY COHEN: 

Well, I think part of what we need to do in our work is about building trust. And I think first and foremost, part of building trust is showing up and listening. And so that's what I'm trying to do.

JOHNSON: 

Dr. Cohen shares her priorities in a conversation you can only hear on this newscast. We ran it yesterday. You can listen on this podcast player or on the ASTHO website. There's a link in the show notes.

Also today, another web page. This one, focused on jobs in public health, is one year old this month. Dr. Heather Krasna says the site PublicHealthCareers.org has a map that connects job seekers with agencies who need help.

HEATHER KRASNA 

So, if you are you know, open to different locations, you can actually go to the site and find a map of all the state health departments and just click on them and it brings you right to the job board for each state.

JOHNSON: 

Krasna is associate dean of career services and professional development at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. She collaborated with ASTHO to develop the site.

KRASNA 

We're hearing from health departments that this is bringing more candidates in, that people are clicking on the postings, and then it brings them over to where they can apply for these different positions.

JOHNSON: 

You can visit PublicHealthCareers.org using the link in the show notes. You can also hear what else Dr. Krasna has to say about the public health workforce in a new episode of the Public Health Review podcast that's available everywhere you stream audio.

Finally this morning, when pain clinics close, some patients can find themselves without critical opioid medications. ASTHO has tools agencies can use to prepare for these closures. O'Keyla Cooper has more.

O'KEYLA COOPER: 

The response protocol for disruptions and access to opioid prescriptions is a crucial tool for states to plan for potential disruptions and access to essential medications due to law enforcement actions against health care providers. The tool provides a comprehensive template for ensuring uninterrupted access to crucial prescriptions. Access it by clicking the link in the show notes.

JOHNSON: 

Before we go, we'd like to remind you to follow this newscast on your podcast player and ASTHO on social media. We're on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.

That'll do it for today. 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.