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Chris Teale, a journalist with Route Fifty, discusses a federal rule that requires websites to adopt standards outlined in the Americans with Disabilities Act; Courtney Youngbar, ASTHO director of Environmental Health, tells us about the concern over...
Chris Teale, a journalist with Route Fifty, discusses a federal rule that requires websites to adopt standards outlined in the Americans with Disabilities Act; Courtney Youngbar, ASTHO director of Environmental Health, tells us about the concern over a tick-borne disease called alpha-gal syndrome; an ASTHO brief explains how agencies can help pregnant people and infants find the specialized care they need; and an ASTHO framework outlines public health's role in mental health promotion and suicide prevention.
Route Fifty News Article: Feds move to make gov websites more accessible to people with disabilities
ASTHO Blog Article: What Health Officials Should Know About Alpha-Gal Syndrome
ASTHO Brief: Implementing Levels of Maternal Care Improves Access to Risk-Appropriate Care
ASTHO Report: Public Health's Role in Mental Health Promotion and Suicide Prevention
ROBERT JOHNSON:
This is the award-winning Public Health Review Morning Edition for Monday, June 3, 2024. I'm Robert Johnson. Now, today's news from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.
CHRIS TEALE:
The benefit of having a more accessible website makes it easier for everybody to get the services that they need, regardless of you know, anything that they are struggling with.
JOHNSON:
Route 50 Journalist, Chris Teale, covering a federal rule that would require state and local government websites to adopt standards outlined in the Americans with Disabilities Act,
TEALE:
Pages have to be easier to navigate, has to be easier to resize, they can rotate and be used on mobile devices and tablets, text captioning for audio Events and Video, alt text for images, able to resize pages and various bits within it, and also usable with a keyboard as well. So, you don't necessarily just have to rely on a mouse or a trackpad.
JOHNSON:
Teale says this is the second time the government has tried to develop a rule, noting the projected cost to update and maintain accessible websites is among the considerations.
TEALE:
DOJ had some estimates in its role, and you're looking at millions or even billions of dollars, to comply and to essentially retrofit your website to make sure that it's in compliance. And then on an annual basis, it estimates that compliance will be about 80 million for counties and 250 million for cities.
JOHNSON:
Agencies would get two to three years to comply with the rule depending on the population within their jurisdictions. You can learn more about the Justice Department proposal by clicking the link in the show notes.
Concern over a tick-borne disease called Alpha-gal syndrome has public health leaders looking to connect with those who spend a lot of time outdoors because there's no treatment or cure for the disease. ASTHO's Courtney Youngbar says the best approach is to educate people most likely to encounter ticks.
COURTNEY YOUNGBAR:
It's really essential that these outreach in educational materials are available in multiple languages, and that they're really tailored to the populations at greatest risk in those jurisdictions. For example, outdoor workers, landscapers, farm workers, and outdoor enthusiasts.
JOHNSON:
Youngbar says Wisconsin came up with a creative way to raise awareness around the concern.
YOUNGBAR:
The Wisconsin Department of Health Services created these build-a-tick Lego models and use those when educating children about ticks and tick-borne diseases. Something like this that's really creative and really piques the public's interest is a great way to educate the public about tick-borne diseases and conditions like alpha-gal syndrome.
JOHNSON:
Youngbar adds, the CDC has developed materials to jumpstart an awareness campaign, all of it on the agency's website.
YOUNGBAR:
Public health leaders can also connect with their CDC Center of Excellence as well as local universities who may be doing research on tick control to really help build that gap between academia and public health practice.
JOHNSON:
Youngbar writes about Alpha-gal syndrome in a new ASTHO blog article. It's online now, read it by clicking the link in the show notes.
Also today, agencies can help pregnant people and their infants get the specialized care they need with the help of a strategy called risk appropriate care. ASTHO has a brief that outlines the levels of maternal care and offers a link to a CDC tool you can use to engage partners. There's a link to the document in the show notes.
Finally this morning, another ASTHO resource. This one, a framework, helps you communicate your agency's role in mental health promotion and suicide prevention. O'Keyla Cooper has more.
O'KEYLA COOPER:
An ASTHO framework outlines public health's role in mental health promotion and suicide prevention, prioritizing fairness and justice. It guides programmatic and policy strategies in public health and aims to assist practitioners in effectively communicating their role to multisector partners. View the full framework by clicking 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, Facebook, and X.
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.
