639: Workforce Pipeline Progress, Strategies to Reduce Congenital Syphilis

ROBERT JOHNSON: 

This is the award-winning Public Health Review Morning Edition for Tuesday, April 9, 2024. I'm Robert Johnson. Now, today's news from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.

AJ PEARLMAN: 

So, Public Health AmeriCorps, it's not just a pipeline, but it's also a pathway with representation and inclusion baked into its identity.

JOHNSON: 

The future of Public Health relies in large part on the workforce. It's the focus of our final day of coverage of National Public Health Week. AmeriCorps Director of Public Health, AJ Pearlman, says more than 4000 people are learning about public health as part of the program.

PEARLMAN: 

They're working at nonprofits, in community health centers, and local health departments. Tackling really urgent issues like the opioid epidemic, addressing health equity and social determinants of health, supporting maternal and child health experts, immunization programs, and doing health education in outreach activities.

JOHNSON: 

Pearlman says the connections people make during their AmeriCorps experience are leading many to consider a career in the field.

PEARLMAN: 

About 80% of our public health AmeriCorps members saying that their year of service was a defining personal and professional experience. And we hear from our members that this experience has really solidified their choice to remain in and further pursue a career in public health.

JOHNSON: 

The good news is that more than half of those in the AmeriCorps program today are between 21 and 35 years old, Pearlman says that bodes well for the future.

PEARLMAN: 

After service. Our members are either looking to work in the government or nonprofit sectors, they're looking to go on to undergraduate or graduate education, or my favorite, they re-enroll in Public Health AmeriCorps for another year.

JOHNSON: 

Read ASTHO's legislative perspectives on the public health workforce and review other resources by clicking the link in the show notes. You can listen to our coverage of the previous six National Public Health Week topics by scrolling down in your podcast player to begin with the newscast on April 1.

Also this morning, state health officials are sharing their own messages about the week's events. Ohio Health Director and ASTHO member Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff offers these comments in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

BRUCE VANDERHOFF: 

We're involved in disease prevention and response to disease outbreaks which may be our most visible efforts. But we're also dedicated to creating healthy communities, which involves initiatives such as promoting exercise and access to healthy foods, ensuring our homes are free of lead, and working to reduce Ohio's smoking and vaping rates.

JOHNSON: 

Another ASTHO member, Acting Pennsylvania Health Secretary, Dr. Debra Bogen, also appears in a post on the platform.

DEBRA BOGEN: 

Public health helps communities thrive. This week, we remember that we are all interconnected. We can all support public health policies from: our homes, to our neighborhoods, to the Commonwealth itself.

JOHNSON: 

You can watch both videos using the links in the show notes.

Public health needs new strategies to address rising rates of syphilis and congenital syphilis. Alaska is among those trying different approaches. ASTHO's Immediate Past President and Alaska Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Anne Zink, says her agency sent a letter to providers in the state.

ANNE ZINK: 

Really a lot of work needing to be done to educate clinicians. What a syphilis? What do you need to look out for? How do you test for? How do you treat it? So for example, Alaska sent out a dear clinicians letter, these are the things you need to consider.

JOHNSON: 

Zink says her team also is working with Alaska's hospital partners.

ZINK: 

We've been working closely with hospitals and hospital associations to be able to get point of care testing, to do more rapid turnaround testing, better follow up that our IT infrastructure to report syphilis cases in and also be able to see if they were treated.

JOHNSON: 

Medicaid is another area where Zink says progress is possible.

ZINK: 

They pay for treatment, they pay for testing, so there's not a lot of limitations that they have there. But it's really connecting people into services, and making sure that they're actually getting that testing and treating.

JOHNSON: 

These and other strategies will be discussed tomorrow at an ASTHO webinar. Dr. Zink will lead the event. It begins at 3pm, Eastern Time, sign up using the link in the show notes.

Finally this morning, get ready to put your leadership skills on the fast track with a discussion happening on Thursday. O'Keyla Cooper has more.

O'KEYLA COOPER: 

Enroll in ASTHO's leadership accelerator, fast track your skills with ELM program to boost your leadership skills with essential topics, networking opportunities, and access to the essentials of leadership and management online course. Virtual sessions begin this Thursday, April 11, with limited availability, apply through the link in the show notes.

JOHNSON: 

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.

JOHNSON: 

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.