910: Data-Ready Ecosystems, Island CHW Support

JANSON SILVERS: This is the award-winning Public Health Review Morning Edition for Tuesday, May 20, 2025. I'm Janson Silvers. Now, today's news from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.

KIMBERLEY SHOAF: It's really important that we use data to make decisions within public health, and oftentimes we just don't have access to the data that we need.

SILVERS: Kimberly Shoaf is a professor of public health at the University of Utah. She is also an upcoming speaker at ASTHO's INSPIRE: Readiness webinar on May 22 that will focus on building a data-ready ecosystem for public health response.

SHOAF: I think that this this webinar will really help planners and leaders, especially to be able to identify what the value is in this sort of a ecosystem model, and to help have them be able to work with their leaders at the state and at CDC and nationally, to be able to work through some of these problems with data access and data visibility.

SILVERS: Shoaf says one of the largest hurdles is that data is coming from so many different sources and so many different levels. Some data is local, some data is state, some data is national, and so on. But in an emergency situation, this makes data-sharing impossible.

SHOAF: They can't look at like the next county's data. They can only look at their own county's data when they look at the statewide data. The statewide data doesn't necessarily paint the picture at the local level, where the rubber really meets the road.

SILVERS: Shoaf says this exact situation is playing out right now with measles.

SHOAF: The county where the majority of the cases in Texas are has very little hospital capacity, and so most of the cases are going to the hospital in the next county over. That next county over may not have any visibility of what immunization status is in that neighboring county or anything else that's going on in that county.

SILVERS: Shoaf adds that regional data ecosystems could be very beneficial in this case and other applications. Hear more from Shoaf and other experts from across the country in ASTHO's INSPIRE: Readiness webinar. Again, that's this Thursday, May 22 and we have a link to register in the show notes.

ASTHO has created an entire web page dedicated to the support of community health workers or CHWs in island jurisdictions. ASTHO's Ashley Cram says many jurisdictions, but islands especially, face challenges.

ASHLEY CRAM: Often, funding that supports CHWs is time-limited, so once that funding source ends, the jurisdiction is faced with finding alternative avenues to sustain the position and the work that's being done. Other challenges include lack of a standardized definition and adequate recognition of skills for the workforce.

SILVERS: ASTHO's new web page highlights several ways to help CHW programs.

CRAM: Strategies to support the role of CHWs fall into a few buckets. So, there's financing, training and workforce supports, and then CHW coalition-building. So, in terms of financing, braiding and layering is top of mind for how to leverage various funding sources to support a common goal and support CHW positions.

SILVERS: Cram says defining what CHWs are and what work they do can also be a big boost.

CRAM: We recently saw Guam explore opportunities to establish a CHW position classification within their government structure so that CHWs can have that more permanent role. And doing this type of workforce assessment can also allow the jurisdiction to identify what training requirements, qualifications, and roles are most appropriate for the CHWs in their area, and therefore what supports the health agency could establish to meet these needs.

SILVERS: ASTHO's new island CHW web page is online now. There's a link in the show notes.

Also, CDC has a brand new resource for health departments, the "Be Ready for Measles" toolkit. It helps support state and local health departments with measles preparedness and outbreak response. Communication, materials, tools for messaging, and items that can assist with the coordination of community partners are all included. Click the link in the show notes to learn more.

Finally, Michelle Arnold, the Health First Indiana program coordinator and AmeriCorps host site supervisor, was recently on ASTHO's Public Health Review podcast about the importance of approaching internships with intention.

MICHELLE ARNOLD: If I could offer advice to any supervisor preparing to bring an intern or a member onto their team, it would be to approach the experience with intention and a mindset of mutual growth. Too often, internships are treated as a short-term help or busy work assignments, you know, you find people shredding or scanning. We don't want that, right? But when done right, they can be incredibly valuable, not only for the intern, but also for the organization.

SILVERS: Hear more from Arnold and Public Health AmeriCorps member Jessica Baker on the latest episode of the Public Health Review podcast. We have a link to the full episode 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.