686: Community Tobacco Control Strategies, Health Equity Science

ROBERT JOHNSON: 

This is the award-winning Public Health Review Morning Edition for Friday, June 14, 2024. I'm Robert Johnson. Now, today's news from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.

ASHLEY HEBERT: 

Despite challenges, preemption should not stop community engagement.

JOHNSON: 

Policy change at any level can take a long time. But Ashley Hebert says that should not stop organizations in their work to protect communities of color from tobacco industry campaigns.

HEBERT: 

While we're waiting on state and federal partners to change regulations, the communities that are most impacted, they have to use their voice and experiences and advocacy to move forward.

JOHNSON: 

Hebert is with The Center for Black Health & Equity.

HEBERT: 

I think that our health departments, if they're able to fund local community organizations to do this work it makes a world of difference when you're on the ground, and you are involving those that are affected by the tobacco industry to begin with.

JOHNSON: 

Hebert is one of several authors of a new ASTHO brief about community engagement as a tobacco control strategy. Read it now using the link in the show notes.

Also today, health equity science is about understanding the root causes of health inequities and using data to help eliminate those disparities. It's also the subject of a new article written by ASTHO staff and others for the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice. ASTHO's Ashley Ottewell says work on the article began with research.

ASHLEY OTTEWELL: 

Last year, ASTHO, in collaboration with CDC and NACCHO, convened representatives from state and local health departments and community partners in five states to garner feedback on CDC's Health Equity Science framework.

JOHNSON: 

Ottewell says the feedback from those meetings is reflected in the article and could help local health departments prepare to implement the framework.

OTTEWELL: 

We developed some considerations for health departments to think about when implementing CDC's Health Equity Science framework that not only includes actions health departments can take, but also what national, state, and local partners can do to support health departments' implementation efforts.

JOHNSON: 

There's a link to the article in the show notes.

The federal government will continue to invest in a project to help leaders in the U.S. Virgin Islands improve their business processes. Nine agencies there have been involved in the work to create a new federal grant planning and setup process. This is ASTHO's, Kristin Sullivan.

KRISTIN SULLIVAN: 

They looked at challenges across the federal grants lifecycle and developed one standard grant setup process for the agencies moving away from paper and then leveraging a new electronic grant management system.

JOHNSON: 

The new money, according to a grant announcement by the Interior Department, will ensure successful implementation of the new process through the continued management of a community of practice.

SULLIVAN: 

It really builds those relationships. And it keeps them all on the same page so that they know where they all need to improve. And then they can build those solutions together. So, it's a really important tool to keep that inter-agency collaboration going.

JOHNSON: 

Learn how the ASTHO Star Center can help your organization with technical assistance needed to improve business processes, accelerate administrative procedures, or assess organizational capacity. Find the link in the show notes.

Finally, this morning, stay connected to everything happening in public health when you sign up for ASTHO's Public Health Weekly email newsletter. You can join the list by clicking the link in the show notes.

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That'll do it for today. We're back Monday 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 weekend.