567: Strategic Primer Helps PH Navigate Challenges; Lead, PFAS, and Food Safety Policy

ROBERT JOHNSON: 

This is the award-winning Public Health Review Morning Edition for Tuesday, December 19, 2023. I'm Robert Johnson. Now, today's news from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.

MICHAEL FRASER: 

Definitely, the book aims to help folks get better at some of those—what are often referred to as soft skills—and some of the things that are not part of public health training, the things like policy and advocacy.

JOHNSON: 

ASTHO CEO Mike Fraser talking about the new book he wrote and edited with friend and colleague, Dr. Brian Castrucci, president and CEO of the de Beaumont Foundation.

FRASER: 

One of the things that we both have observed is there's tremendous depth of technical expertise in the field of public health and in public health practice, but a lot of the challenges we face today in public health are strategic challenges; they're leadership challenges; they're management challenges; they're organizational behavior challenges.

JOHNSON: 

The book is called Building Strategic Skills for Better Health. Fraser says it's organized as a reference to help readers based on their needs and interests.

FRASER: 

And it's not a book you read cover to cover, you know, you'd look at the content, you'd see what you're most interested in.

JOHNSON: 

Fraser says the book was four years in the making, adding the pandemic underscored the need for the topics covered.

FRASER: 

I think we can all agree that while there was some pretty tremendous technical challenges involved, a lot of what we experienced were communication challenges, leadership challenges, inclusion, diversity, organizational behavior challenges, and this book will fill some of those voids and hopefully spur further study in all of these important areas.

JOHNSON: 

Get more information and order your copy of the book using the link in the show notes.

Environmental health and food safety have always been part of public health work, and they continue to be hot topics in state capitals across the country. Idaho State Health Official Elke Shaw-Tulloch says many agencies saw bills passed or introduced this year to reduce exposure to lead in water pipes and other building materials.

ELKE SHAW-TULLOCH: 

Rhode Island enacted companion bills establishing a lead water supply replacement program for public and private service lines in requiring the disclosure of the presence of lead service lines to tenants and property buyers and in Connecticut, they have now a robust set of requirements for health care providers, local public health, and state public health.

JOHNSON: 

Forever chemicals, also known as PFAS chemicals, have received a lot of attention as well. Shaw-Tulloch says at least 16 states enacted laws this year to ban the chemicals in consumer products. In Idaho, there's a drive underway to educate owners of private water wells.

SHAW-TULLOCH: 

Our program just developed Idaho's first private well water PFAS educational brochure, because we do have a lot of private wells in the state of Idaho that provides information to private well owners about PFAS and how to test for it.

JOHNSON: 

Finally, 2023 was a busy year for laws impacting cottage foods. Those are food products made outside commercial kitchens. Shaw-Tulloch says many states are changing their laws regarding these businesses.

SHAW-TULLOCH: 

Some examples include Iowa allowing for the sale of raw milk and raw milk products. Louisiana allows the preparation and sale of wild catfish. New Jersey is allowing the sale of raw honey. Wyoming is allowing the sale of eggs and dairy products and then in California and Washington, they also passed legislation and they had both of those states that are focused on changing the allowable gross sales in a variety of ways.

JOHNSON: 

New laws to improve environmental health and food safety are examined as part of ASTHO's 2024 Legislative Prospectus series. Our coverage of the series began last week. It continues through the end of this week. You can read more using the links in the show notes.

Also today, heart disease and stroke prevention policies are the focus of a new ASTHO report. O'Keyla Cooper has more.

O'KEYLA COOPER: 

A new ASTHO-created resource outlines practical strategies for state and local governments to prevent heart disease and stroke. It covers key areas including taxation, the informational environment, the built environment, socio-economic factors, and regulation. Use the link in the show notes to access detailed insights and to download the full resource.

JOHNSON: 

Finally, this morning, a special issue of the Maternal and Child Health Journal will be unveiled in an online event scheduled for 12:30 p.m. ET today. The topic is perinatal substance use. You also can hear more about the journal project on our newscast that aired last Friday, December 15. That episode is in your podcast player. Get more on the event and the newscast using the links in the show notes.

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 will 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.