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Jeanne Ayers, ASTHO alum and executive director of Healthy Democracy Healthy People, says research has shown that a civically engaged community is a healthy community; Betty Bekemeier, professor at the University of Washington School of Nursing, tells...
Jeanne Ayers, ASTHO alum and executive director of Healthy Democracy Healthy People, says research has shown that a civically engaged community is a healthy community; Betty Bekemeier, professor at the University of Washington School of Nursing, tells us about a new ASTHO white paper that examines how states are leveraging funding sources to help with transportation; and an ASTHO webinar will teach you how to assess your agency’s work to prevent adverse childhood experiences later this month.
ASTHO Blog Article: Why Public Health Officials Should Make Voting Accessible for Everybody
ASTHO Webpage: State Health Officials Share 12 Tips for Safe In-Person Voting
ASTHO Blog Article: Connecting Health and Transportation to Improve Access to Care
ASTHO Webinar: Understanding Adverse Childhood Experiences – Virtual 101 Training
ROBERT JOHNSON:
This is the award-winning Public Health Review Morning Edition for Monday, April 1, 2024. I'm Robert Johnson. Now, today's news from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.
JEANNE AYERS:
Research has shown that a civically engaged community is a healthy community.
JOHNSON:
Another election year is here and that has some thinking about the connections between voter engagement and healthy communities. Jeanne Ayers is an ASTHO alum and executive director of Healthy Democracy Healthy People. She says civic participation was recognized last year as a core health objective in the HHS Healthy People framework.
AYERS:
They actually named it they said, voting offers a chance for people to contribute to the decisions that affect their communities, and directly or indirectly impact their health and well being in that way.
JOHNSON:
Ayers says a growing body of research makes clear the connection between voting and community health.
AYERS:
So we've seen the data that wherever we make it easier to vote, people are actually healthier. And where we make it harder to vote. Those states that have made it harder to vote have worse health outcomes.
JOHNSON:
Ayers says agencies can make an impact if they think more strategically about their work.
AYERS:
Who do I need to be in relationship with? What are the policies and or the resource investments that will make a difference for our communities? And how do I build the public and political will for those changes?
JOHNSON:
Ayers says agencies can make an impact if they think more strategically about their work. Read more about the connections between voting and public health by clicking the links in the show notes.
Transportation access is critical to the health of a community. A new ASTHO white paper examines how states are leveraging funding sources to provide those connections. Betty Bekemeier is a professor at the University of Washington School of Nursing.
BETTY BEKEMEIER:
We were really asked to look at this what exists what's already happening in some states and describe some of that as well as identify kind of key takeaways and produce some actionable, specific ideas and direction for public health officials to look at ways to initiate cross sector planning around transportation.
JOHNSON:
Bekemeier says researchers examined work in Vermont, Oregon, North Carolina, and Arizona.
BEKEMEIER:
We did case studies with four states. But we didn't really find any that were doing layering specifically, but several were doing braiding.
JOHNSON:
She admits the process of bringing different funding sources together can sometimes feel like a difficult task. But Bekemeier adds, it can be done.
BEKEMEIER:
It's really important to have a culture of collaboration and support that with things like a memorandum of understanding that really outlines who's doing what and why and how, and maybe data use agreements.
JOHNSON:
ASTHO has written a blog article about the project and has developed a report on the topic. The links are in the show notes.
Also today, learn how to assess your agency's work to prevent adverse childhood experiences in an ASTHO webinar happening later this month. O'Keyla Cooper has more.
O'KEYLA COOPER:
ASTHO's Social and Behavioral Health team is hosting a virtual adverse childhood experiences one-on-one training on April 22, from 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Eastern time. This team-based session aims to educate on ACEs, discuss risk factors, and explore prevention efforts. Click the link in the show notes for registration information.
JOHNSON:
Finally, this morning get access to the latest ASTHO news and resources every week when you sign up for the Public Health Weekly email newsletter. The link to join the list is in the show notes.
Before we go a reminder also to follow this newscast on your podcast player and connect with ASTHO on social media. We are 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.
