941: Integration of AI, Effective Public Health Comms

JANSON SILVERS: 

This is the award-winning Public Health Review Morning Edition for Monday, July 7, 2025. I'm Janson Silvers. Now, today's news from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.

JAY VARMA: 

If we, in public health, don't take leadership over how AI is used, it's more likely to be used in ways that we don't like and to cause harm in the field.

SILVERS: 

Dr. Jay Varma, with the Community Healthcare Network, explains the importance of embracing AI technologies in public health in a recent essay for heartbeat [HealthBeat], Varma describes some of the ways that AI can be used to strengthen public health efforts across communities, and how public health leadership can strategically integrate this new technology into their work.

VARMA: 

When we think about public health agencies, we think of ten essential public health functions split into three big categories: assessment, policy development, and assurance. All three of these categories are, at their root, basically cognitive labor, and that's exactly the type of work that AI can really augment.

SILVERS: 

Varma says that AI has yet to be implemented in public health on a large scale due to a lack of funding opportunities.

VARMA: 

We all know the phrase that when public health is working best, it's invisible. You know, it's averting illness, deaths, disabilities, without anyone knowing it, with information technology, public health suffers from the same problem. We're effectively invisible to the tech sector and the investor community.

SILVERS: 

As Varma explains, AI would support, not replace, the public health workforce and free up providers to work in a more creative capacity.

VARMA: 

For example, if a program has ten epidemiologists on staff using AI, well, maybe we only need four or five of them actually at their desk doing the data analysis and visualization, and then the other four or five epidemiologists could be, you know, redeployed, essentially, to engage with communities and policy-makers in understanding the data, helping to deliver essential data services with that data, and eliciting ideas for how to improve our program.

SILVERS: 

Check out Varma's full essay on AI's role in the future of public health by heading to the link in the show notes.

ASTHO will hold an INSPIRE: readiness webinar this Thursday, July 10, at 2 p.m. Eastern Time, to discuss effective data communication during public health crises. The event will feature Dr. Amanda M. Simanek, founding member of the social media-based science communication effort, Those Nerdy Girls. According to Simanek, the key to effective communication is knowing how to establish a relationship with your community before an emergency takes place.

AMANDA SIMANEK: 

One way, I think, is getting to know the questions that your community has about health topics in general, and attempting to be a source of trusted information on those lower-stake topics before there's some kind of huge public health crisis or emergency.

SILVERS: 

Simanek explains how public health providers can address misinformation with a technique called 'pre-bunking.'

SIMANEK: 

Public health communicators will try to preemptively address the types of false information or misconceptions that are likely to arise related to that emerging issue, and this can help prepare people to not fall into those misinformation traps.

SILVERS: 

When it comes to providing communities with accurate information, Simanek recommends utilizing a wide variety of formats and platforms.

SIMANEK: 

There's an idea that we should sort of try to flood the information landscape with correct information. But also, it matters because not everybody consumes health-related information in the same mediums, and that varies across age, gender identity, culture, etc.

SILVERS: 

You can register for this event now. We have a link in the show notes.

Also, ASTHO is kicking off its Public Health Nursing Learning Lab series on Wednesday, July 23 with a conversation about the evolving role and impact of public health nurses. This five-part series gives participants the opportunity to explore workforce challenges and collaborate on solutions with peers across the country. Visit the link in the show notes to register.

Finally, congratulations to Dr. Steven Stack, ASTHO past president, on beginning his new role as secretary of Kentucky's Cabinet for Health and Family Services. Stack will work alongside the rest of the cabinet to manage Kentucky's Human Services, which includes Medicaid, foster care, care for the aging, and more. To read more about how he plans to help keep Kentucky healthy, check out the article linked 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.