523: Making Decisions During a Crisis, PH Help Wanted

ROBERT JOHNSON: 

This is the award-winning Public Health Review Morning Edition for Friday, October 13, 2023. I'm Robert Johnson. Now, today's news from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.

RAY BARISHANSKY: 

One of the things that I had noticed with my particular area of expertise being preparedness was that there was kind of a limited amount of information regarding decision-making for these very important public health decision makers.

ROBERT JOHNSON: 

Dr. Ray Barishansky interviewed 21 current or former state and territorial health officials about the issues that impact decision making in public health responses, like the COVID-19 pandemic. He and ASTHO CEO Dr. Mike Fraser, write about the research in a new article for the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice.

MICHAEL FRASER: 

The biggest finding about state health official decision making and crisis was the opportunity to collaborate. The opportunity to pull in data from lots of different sources, the opportunity to convene your team, and do that in a coordinated fashion and make a decision that all can buy into. There's just no time for that.

ROBERT JOHNSON: 

For Barishansky and Fraser, what officials said about their ability or inability to make decisions during the worst days of the pandemic seems obvious, but also surprising.

RAY BARISHANSKY: 

There were a number of times where the state health officials who I interviewed specifically mentioned that they wished that they had had a more regular tempo of meetings with the governor in their state. And then several of them stated that they wish that they had put their foot down more in regard to various areas such as mask mandates or social distancing measures.

ROBERT JOHNSON: 

Barishansky worked in state health. Now, he's a public health consultant. What does he think leaders learned from the pandemic experience?

RAY BARISHANSKY: 

It's interesting to me because I think some of the respondents spoke to the challenges of coordination and communication between federal and state government. And there was actually a quote somewhere in the paper, which said that one state health official said on war, we don't respond like 50 separate states. But that's what we were doing in this war.

ROBERT JOHNSON: 

All of this has Barishansky and Fraser thinking of ways to help leaders get ready for the next crisis.

MICHAEL FRASER: 

For ASTHO, one of the things the research suggests looking forward is being more intentional in our ASTHO Leadership Institute and other ways that we help health officers and their leadership teams develop as executives; be much more intentional about decision making, decision making styles, decision making in crisis.

ROBERT JOHNSON: 

You can read the article in the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice using the link in the show notes.

The public health workforce is in a precarious position, according to one expert. Dr. J.P. Leider is an associate professor at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health. He says among the thousands of openings across the country, some job categories stand out.

JP LEIDER: 

You always hear that you need more public health nurses. But these days, I would say even more than that, it's data scientist-types and EPI-types and then community health workers. That's very clearly the types that you're hearing, have a tough time keeping, getting, finding at all.

ROBERT JOHNSON: 

Leider understands it can be difficult to compete with the private sector on pay and benefits, but says some jurisdictions have discovered ways to get people interested in public health.

JP LEIDER: 

So, they're doing more with flex-work and full-time remote work, which I think is very smart. People don't want to come to the office four days a week anymore, or maybe even three. But they're also doing things that I think are very, very smart around making it clear about internal promotion and career tracks.

ROBERT JOHNSON: 

He says agencies also need to do what they can to streamline the hiring process.

JP LEIDER: 

And so my advice would be, do all of the things that you can to speed up the time from your job post, to onboarding, you know, get yourself updates to your HR systems and your HR models, by any means necessary. Whatever you have to do, because it's the talent pipeline and the modernization of it that will pay enormous dividends almost more than anything else. And the ongoing vacancy rates that will hurt you more than anything else.

ROBERT JOHNSON: 

You can hear more of this conversation with Dr. Leider in a new episode of the Public Health Review podcast, available now everywhere you stream audio.

Also today, lead and algal blooms pose serious risks to people who hunt fish or spend time around bodies of water. ASTHO has produced two reports on these dangers. O'Keyla Cooper has more.

O'KEYLA COOPER: 

Idaho and New Jersey implemented a One Health approach to address environmental health issues, recognizing the interdependence of human, animal, and environmental well-being. ASTHO created case studies on their successful implementation. Idaho combatted recreational lead exposure while New Jersey tackled harmful algal blooms, both offering insights into partnerships, outreach efforts, challenges, and future opportunities. Access both reports via the link in the show notes.

ROBERT JOHNSON: 

Finally, this morning, the findings of a learning community focused on mental health and substance use in the maternal and child health population are summarized in an article written for the Maternal and Child Health Journal. ASTHO policy experts helped write it. Discover what they learned by clicking the link in the show notes.

Also get more news like this every week in ASTHO's Public Health Weekly email newsletter. You can join the list using the link in the show notes.

That'll do it for today. We're back Monday morning with more ASTHO news and information. I'm Robert Johnson. You're listening to the award-winning Public Health Review Morning Edition. Have a great weekend.