Dr. Dylan George, director of the Center for Forecasting and Outbreak Analytics at the CDC, tells us about Insight Net which aims to improve analytics in outbreak forecasting; Mark Miller, vice president of communications at the de Beaumont Foundation,...
Dr. Dylan George, director of the Center for Forecasting and Outbreak Analytics at the CDC, tells us about Insight Net which aims to improve analytics in outbreak forecasting; Mark Miller, vice president of communications at the de Beaumont Foundation, explains how a de Beaumont Foundation toolkit could help build trust; and on March 1 we will recognize 'Remembrance Day' to honor the victims and survivors of U.S. nuclear testing in the Marshall Islands.
de Beaumont Foundation Web Page: Communicating About Public Health
Marshall Islands Story Project Web Page: Remembrance Day
SUMMER JOHNSON:
This is the award-winning Public Health Review Morning Edition for Friday, February 28, 2025. I'm Summer Johnson. Now, today's news from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.
DYLAN GEORGE:
We're helping to build a 'national weather service' for infectious diseases, using Insight Net to drive innovation, testing whether or not those innovations are going to be useful at the local level, and then finding ways of scaling them across the United States.
JOHNSON:
Dr. Dylan George is director of the Center for Forecasting and Outbreak Analytics at CDC. George's team recently created Insight Net, a cooperative agreement with more than 100 performers focused on improving analytics to guide decision-making.
GEORGE:
We're building analytics that will help us anticipate what's coming at us down the road during an outbreak in particular, and so that we can actually make decisions much more efficiently and use the resources that we have much more effectively to have those interventions have the impacts that we're hoping that they will have.
JOHNSON:
One example of the work is at Clemson University, where they're using disease modeling, public health data, and local demographic data to identify areas across South Carolina that are lacking access to critical health services.
GEORGE:
Clemson, they will use these models to support South Carolina's Department of Public Health and the state's two largest healthcare providers to deploy mobile healthcare units and clinics out into those underserved, often rural communities so that they can hopefully streamline improved healthcare outcomes.
JOHNSON:
George believes data analytics could change public health forever.
GEORGE:
Public health is a local activity, and that's why we're trying to support it at that level. This network and the work of our partners is making a transformative change to public health, using data for action to improve public health today and safeguard our communities for the next disease threat.
JOHNSON:
CDC has a web page dedicated to Insight Net the link is in the show notes,
JOHNSON:
Not a surprise to our listeners, everyday, public health professionals battle misinformation and disinformation and the de Beaumont Foundation is looking to help. Mark Miller tells us about a new toolkit aimed at building trust.
MARK MILLER:
What we learned is that you really can't build trust and support. The knowledge gaps were bigger than what we thought, and so we revised our initial messages and came up with messaging that effectively helps people first understand what public health is, which can then lead to building support and trust.
JOHNSON:
de Beaumont found five communication gaps the toolkit works to fill. One, for example, is the general public still doesn't know the positive impacts of public health.
MILLER:
People aren't aware of the positive impact public health services have made in their own lives because it's focused on prevention. So, it's important to use examples of the progress we've made, and a suggested talking point is: because of public health, many serious diseases that were common in your parents' or grandparents' generations are now very rare.
JOHNSON:
Miller says people also need to understand the role of local public health departments. The toolkit can guide you through the entire process.
MILLER:
The toolkit has the talking points on the gaps and how to address them, but also practical advice about how to use them. It has tips for finding ways to educate people in your daily work, a list of examples that can illustrate your messages, and how to communicate in different situations.
JOHNSON:
The toolkit is online now. You can find it by clicking the link in the show notes.
Also, Remembrance Day is tomorrow, March 1. It's an official holiday to honor the victims and survivors of U.S. nuclear testing in the Marshall Islands in the mid 20th century. The holiday falls on the anniversary of the 1954 Castle Bravo nuclear test, which remains the largest U.S. thermonuclear device ever detonated; 1,000 times more powerful than Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The country conducted 67 nuclear tests in the Marshall Islands over 12 years. Cancer incidents in the Marshallese population increased in the following decades, and some areas of the Marshall Islands are still unlivable due to the high levels of radioactivity. You can check out the show notes to learn more about Remembrance Day and the nuclear legacy in the Marshall Islands.
Finally, this morning, stay up to date on all things public health with the ASTHO Public Health Weekly newsletter. The top stories in public health will be delivered to your inbox each week. You can sign up today using the link in the show notes.
That'll do it for today. We're back on Monday 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 weekend.
Dylan George PhD MS
Director of Operations, Center for Epidemic Forecasting & Outbreak Analytics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
