669: Lawmakers Consider PH Priorities, Public Health Strategies for Older Adults

ROBERT JOHNSON: 

This is the award-winning Public Health Review Morning Edition for Tuesday, May 21, 2024. I'm Robert Johnson. Now, today's news from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.

LILLIAN COLASURDO: 

We're definitely seeing a lot of these issues start to be addressed, which is kind of overlapping with the optimum health for all theme.

JOHNSON: 

ASTHO is out with part one of its 2024 Legislative Session Update. Lillian Colasurdo says it's been a busy season for lawmakers working on many public health priorities, including data exchange and syphilis screenings for pregnant people.

COLASURDO: 

For overdose prevention, we've seen several states and territories pass legislation that's going to increase the availability of naloxone in places like schools in order to prevent fatal overdose.

JOHNSON: 

Colasurdo says more states also have discussed physician prescribed contraception.

COLASURDO: 

We've seen 13 more jurisdictions considering legislation to dispense without a prescription and 18 different jurisdictions considering allowing pharmacists to dispense 12 months worth of contraceptives at a time.

JOHNSON: 

The complete rundown is available in a new ASTHO blog article. It's online now, you can read it by clicking the link in the show notes.

Work continues to implement and promote strategy spelled out last year in the federal government's report on physical activity guidelines for older adults. Katrina Piercy is with HHS.

KATRINA PIERCY: 

When we launched the Midcourse report, we also expanded our older adults material for Move Your Way to help us better communicate about some of those benefits and to encourage more older adults to be active.

JOHNSON: 

Move Your Way is the name of the promotional campaign associated with the report. Piercy says the document includes individual and population level strategies.

PIERCY: 

So, things like at the policy systems environmental changes that can help shift behaviors of a population things like active transportation, changing the neighborhood environment, and using our Move Your Way resources can help us get there collectively.

JOHNSON: 

May is Older Americans Month we have several links in the show notes. Also today healthy aging is the focus of a new ASTHO resource. O'Keyla Cooper has more.

O'KEYLA COOPER: 

And ASTHO brief on public health frameworks to advance healthy aging explains healthy aging as keeping older adults in the best physical, mental, spiritual, and social health. By 2060, the number of Americans over 65 is expected to double making up 25% of the population. Addressing social determinants of health early in life, can reduce disparities and enhance the quality of life for older adults. For more details, download the full brief using the link in the show notes.

JOHNSON: 

Finally this morning, the ASTHO Profile dashboard gets a shout out from podcasters who work in the our software community. Mike Thomas is on the show called our weekly. He says the ASTHO product is one of the best designed websites he's ever seen.

MIKE THOMAS: 

It's so clean, it's so thorough, it's incredibly thorough, you know, just some of the concepts that get employed here around displaying information and trying to minimize clutter.

JOHNSON: 

With an endorsement like that, what are you waiting for? Visit the profile dashboard now. There's a link 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'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.