729: NC Youth Risk Behavior Survey, Hurricane Debby Impacts GA

JANSON SILVERS: 

This is the award-winning Public Health Review Morning Edition for Thursday, August 15. 2024 I'm Janson Silvers. Now, today's news from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.

ELLEN ESSICK: 

This year we saw in our data at our high school level, we saw some positive improvements. Some of those weren't yet statistically significant, but they are moving in the right direction.

SILVERS: 

For more than 30 years, North Carolina has conducted a Youth Risk Behavior Survey. The survey asked different questions to middle and high school students. Ellen Essick, with the North Carolina Department of Public Construction says investments in mental health have paid off.

ESSICK: 

There's been a lot of different initiatives that have been going on all at the same time. So I can't say that one did more than the other. It's really just a plethora of things that different districts have used to help them.

SILVERS: 

This was the first time the survey included questions about social media use. Essick says there isn't enough data yet to indicate how social media affects mental health, but they do know one thing.

ESSICK: 

Certainley, we did notice that among all of our students, and they report their grades to us no matter what their grades, the use of social media and devices was high. So clearly it's something that impacts all students.

SILVERS: 

While there were some positive results, we just mentioned some groups like LGBTQ and female students in particular, continue to struggle as success, we have to make a direct effort to reach those students.

ESSICK: 

I do think we have to continue targeting our supports around those groups that need that extra help. Some of that means training our teachers so they are better able to support those students, whether that's our LGBT students, our female students, in particular, we've seen some high numbers of mental health challenges among more of our female students. And one size doesn't fit all,

SILVERS: 

North Carolina has shared the results of the survey online. You can find those by clicking the link in the show notes,

Hurricane Debby has left its mark on the East Coast. Georgia's Byron Lobsinger says for his state, the rain, not the winds, were the biggest impact.

BYRON LOBSINGER: 

Debby was kind of atypical with the flooding that we had, with the rain that came with that we were expecting, like 1000 year event, but thankfully, it wasn't that much, but it was still substantial for the amount of rain we got.

SILVERS: 

Lobsinger is the environmental health emergency planner for the Department of Public Health in Georgia, and says one key response measure they have is their environmental health. Facilities across the state have a mass messaging service for their communities.

LOBSINGER: 

And those facilities, they can select which ones are within their district or county and send out messaging saying, Hey, this is what you need to do. Should you lose power? Should you lose water? If you have to close and then they can go with that,

SILVERS: 

With the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicting a worse than usual hurricane season, Lobsinger tells us You must always try to be better than your last response, ongoing improvement.

LOBSINGER: 

So for whatever response or exercise you do, having that after action report discussion as the Hey, how could this go better? Would be perfect for that. So it kind of keeps that ongoing improvement process so we have a better response, more efficient response, more effective response to get the community back to a new normal.

SILVERS: 

ASTHO has several resources that can help you through hurricane season. The links are in the show notes. Also today, astho, along with NACCHO and the CDC, has published an article in the Journal of Public Health Management and practice focused on lessons learned from the Public Health Disability Specialist Program. Learn how effective the program was by clicking the link in the show notes. The work to address children's environmental health isn't easy, but you don't have to do it alone. O'Keyla Cooper has more.

O'KEYLA COOPER: 

ASTHO, with support from the EPA, has created four community action plan templates for state and territorial health agencies to address children's environmental health. These templates focus on air quality, climate environmental justice, and lead poisoning, helping agencies target specific needs. Learn more and download the templates through the link in the show notes.

SILVERS: 

Finally, this morning, the CDC has issued a Health Alert, network health advisory about current increases in human parvovirus B 19 activity in the United States. The CDC has received reports of this seasonal respiratory virus that indicate increased activity in the US. Read the full alert in the show notes.

That'll do it for today. We're back tomorrow morning with more astho news and information. I'm Janson Silvers. You're listening to the award-winning Public Health Review Morning Edition. Have a great day.