787: Racism Affects Youth, Epidemiology Assessment Bears Mixed Results

SUMMER JOHNSON: 

This is the award-winning Public Health Review Morning Edition for Thursday, November 7, 2024. I'm Summer Johnson. Now, today's news from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.

JAMES HUYNH: 

They found that about one in three high school students did experience racism at school.

JOHNSON: 

Dr. James Huyhn is from the University of Michigan School of Public Health. He says, in 2023 for the first time, the CDC added a question about racism to its Youth Risk Behavior Survey.

HUYNH: 

And to give a little bit- more specific about that, Asian students reported the highest prevalence compared to white students, so about 57% of Asian students reported ever experiencing racism, compared to just 17% of white students reporting experiencing racism.

JOHNSON: 

Students of color who experienced racism also had poorer health outcomes. One says there are policy and system changes that state health officials can advocate for.

HUYNH: 

They can use their power to promote culturally responsive practices in schools, whether that's influencing Department of Education or bringing this kind of research to the Department of Education to change the way that they do things.

JOHNSON: 

It's also important to offer services to entire families and make sure resources are usable by various communities.

HUYNH: 

I think by developing services that are one, using the appropriate language, two, targeting the family units and not just the student, public health officials can take a multi-pronged approach to developing culturally responsive services.

JOHNSON: 

The CDC full report is online now. You can use the link in the show notes to read it.

The Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists, or CSTE, recently released the findings of the 2024 Epidemiology Capacity Assessment. Sarah Auer, with CSTE, says the results are mixed.

SARAH AUER: 

We found in state health departments there's about 5700 'epis'; that is an increase since 2021, however, needs remain unmet.

JOHNSON: 

As funding from the pandemic begins to dry up, Auer expects a large fraction of the workforce will be lost.

AUER: 

Over 80% of funding for 'epi' activities and personnel is federal and with the end of pandemic funding, which we know is coming, states anticipate losing about a fifth of their workforce. So, a lot of our growth that we've had since 2021 we will unfortunately lose when that pandemic funding ends.

JOHNSON: 

The report does include steps state health departments can take to help.

AUER: 

Supporting collaborations with academic institutions, because we need a robust pipeline of people entering the workforce to have a diverse workforce, also supporting collaborations with fellowships, like things like our applied epidemiology fellowship.

JOHNSON: 

CSTE's full report can be found by clicking the link in the show notes.

Also today, ASTHO would like to give a warm welcome to Dr. Stacey Bank, as the newest ASTHO member. Bank was announced as the executive medical director of the Utah Department of Health and Human Services earlier this week. Learn more about Bank's background as a primary care physician by using the link in the show notes.

Plus, ASTHO has a blog article out that details the ins-and-outs of how Minnesota uses the Public Health Infrastructure Grant to streamline public health funding and technical assistance. Read how they did it and see if this might be something your department could do by clicking the link in the show notes.

Finally, this morning, sign up for ASTHO's Public Health Weekly newsletter. You can get the latest top stories in public health delivered to your inbox each and every week. It's the perfect compliment to this newscast. And of course, the link to sign up is in the show notes.

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.