721: Social Media Warning Label, Essentials of Leadership Management

SUMMER JOHNSON: 

This is the award-winning Public Health Review Morning Edition for Monday, August 5, 2024. I'm Summer Johnson. Now, today's news from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.

JANE HARNESS 

Social media and mental health interactions are very complex, and it's truly unique and can't really be compared to other public health topics of the past.

JOHNSON: 

Dr. Jane Harness, clinical assistant professor at the University of Michigan's Department of Psychiatry, talks about the surgeon general's recent call for warning labels on social media to protect the mental health of adolescents.

HARNESS 

Everyone wants discreet recommendations about the exact age when social media is quote unquote safe for use or an amount of time used per day that is, quote unquote safe. But the relationship between youth mental health and social media use is much more nuanced and complex than that.

JOHNSON: 

Harness thinks educating students at an early age could be an effective strategy.

HARNESS 

Creation and implementation of a social media and media literacy curriculum in schools. We must equip youth with knowledge about the risks, benefits, and potential changes that they can make to their social media use, so they can find and sustain changes that maximize benefit and minimize harm for themselves.

JOHNSON: 

Harness adds that one note messaging, declaring social media terrible, also may not be the best strategy for public health.

HARNESS 

It's important to have balance and messaging. Messages that social media is all bad, all the time are simply not credible. And acknowledging the benefits while also highlighting the harms may have better reception.

JOHNSON: 

General Murthy's full opinion article is in the show notes.

JOHNSON: 

ASTHO's Essential of Leadership and Management Program helps existing supervisors and managers become more effective in their roles within public health agencies. Brian Jimenez, is a program supervisor with San Mateo County, is an alum of the program.

BRYAN JIMENEZ 

I think it just provides an opportunity for those leaders to really do some introspection, and to take some of those insights from that self-reflection and try to apply them to accelerate, right, as an effective leader.

JOHNSON: 

Jimenez says he could use the lessons he learned on day one.

JIMENEZ 

One of the things that I was impressed by was just how often or most, if not all of the concepts that were presented, how that was directly applicable to many situations that I think I had found myself in previously.

JOHNSON: 

The program can be used by new managers or those who have been doing the work for years.

JIMENEZ 

Even if you've been doing this for some time, like I said, there was a lot of concepts that we generally were applying, but there was always little things here and there that we hadn't considered that you know, might have considered, would have had better outcomes.

JOHNSON: 

You can find out more information about ASTHO's Essentials of Leadership and Management Program by using the link in the show notes.

JOHNSON: 

Guam has been working to make sure public health dollars are well spent where they're needed. Bertha Taijeron works in the Guam Department of Public Health and Social Services and has seen the top-down approach at work.

BERTHA TAIJERON 

I think what has gone well is the fact that we come together. There's commitment from the top, and when I say from the top I am talking about leadership, right? I'm talking about step one agencies who definitely want to help us improve this process and there's commitment. There's this long-term commitment. There's this support all the way up to our Governor.

JOHNSON: 

Taijeron is joined by others from Guam leadership in an episode of the Public Health Review podcast that's out now. There's a link in the show notes and you can also find it wherever you listen to podcasts.

Finally, today, an upcoming webinar will guide you through making better decisions. O'Keyla Cooper has more.

O'KEYLA COOPER: 

Join ASTHO and the Public Health Foundation on August 14 at 8p.m. Eastern Time for performance management techniques for successful decision making. This webinar will provide practical insights into operationalizing performance management systems, focusing on creating meaningful goals, and integrating quality improvement strategies. Register now using the link in the show notes.

JOHNSON: 

That'll do it for today. We're back tomorrow morning with more ASTHO news and information.

I'm Summer Johnson. You're listening to the award-winning Public Health Review Morning Edition.

Have a great day.