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This brief discusses the roles state primary care offices (PCOs) have in addressing primary care transformation.

This infographic outlines recommendations for how PQCs can promote breastfeeding through quality improvement strategies, and includes examples of three state PQCs that have improved policies, procedures, and practices to better support breastfeeding in hospitals.

This brief outlines key considerations for state health departments to address the increase in overdose-related deaths during the postpartum period.

This brief explores how state and territorial health agencies can engage people who provide social support for individuals and families with hypertension.

ASTHO provides key support and resources as public health agencies undergo critical updates to their data and information systems.

About Public Health Data Modernization and Informatics Understanding Public Health Data Modernization & Informatics Understand public health data modernization work and its importance, plus ASTHO’s efforts to support agencies’ data modernization initiatives. Public health data and surveillance systems are essential to the nation’s public health infrastructure — in day-to-day operations as well as crucial moments that require detecting and responding to emerging health threats. ASTHO is dedicated to supporting its members and health agency staff in advancing crucial data modernization efforts, with comprehensive tools and customized guidance. What Is Data Modernization? Data modernization is an effort to improve public health data, technology, workforce capacity, and related processes and policies, with the end goal of having more timely and actionable insights. In public health, data modernization is a cross-cutting endeavor that supports all public health programs (e.g., environmental health, infectious disease, maternal and child health, etc.) — as safe and secure data collection, management, and sharing are critical to each area’s efforts. It is fundamental infrastructure work that supports an entire health department and connects to a much larger data ecosystem, enabling critical efforts across jurisdictions and sectors. Tabatha Offutt-Powell - Page - What Is DMI Why Is Data Modernization Important in Public Health? Data modernization is important in public health because it mobilizes faster and more complete, accurate data — getting it in the hands of the right people at the right time, from infectious disease specialists responding to an outbreak to chronic disease leaders designing data-driven interventions that promote healthier communities. These people, experts and decision-makers, can then take informed actions to protect the public’s health. When public health data systems are at their best, they can support both public health and health care. Instead of relying on fragmented views of a person or a population’s health (i.e., through different programmatic lenses or health care setting experiences), those on the receiving end of this crucial data can look at individuals and populations as a whole. The reality is that people experience all aspects of health and interface with health systems in many different ways — and when public health or health care professionals are able to connect relevant data from various sources, they can gain a more complete and accurate understanding of individual and population health, ultimately enabling better interventions. Elizabeth Ruebush - Page - What is DMI What Are the Key Components of Data Modernization That Enable Modern Data Platforms? The key components that make modern public health data systems possible include technology, people, policy (legal and organizational), and sustainability. Technology An important element is, of course, ensuring and leveraging robust, up-to-date technology. Leveraging modern technology allows agencies to move from manual to automated processes and minimizes the burden on public health and data partners. People While the technology is important, the people who manage and use these systems are just as crucial. More specifically, those with the training/skills needed to support data systems and engage with the technologies for faster, more actionable data. Policy and Process The policies and processes that guide data collection, management, sharing, and use are additional components of importance in data modernization, including: Legal policies that impact public health data reporting, surveillance, and sharing. Organizational policies and governance structures that relate to the internal standards, processes, and procedures for handling public health data. Sustainability Sustainability is also critical and involves securing ongoing resources — financial and otherwise — to ensure a health department can maintain a modern data infrastructure, rather than relying on isolated, one-time upgrades. How Does ASTHO Support Public Health Data Modernization? ASTHO has a dedicated Public Health Data Modernization and Informatics team that is committed to supporting state and territorial health agency leadership in their modernization efforts, enhancing data exchange capabilities, and supporting a sustainable and resilient public health data infrastructure. The team supports public health agencies on their data modernization journeys by: Bringing health agencies and private partners together through the Public Health Data Consortium — with an objective of enhancing the quality of and access to public health data used to inform population health decisions and understand long-term outcomes. Accelerating modern data exchange through cutting-edge health IT standards and offering direct technical implementation services through the Implementation Center Program. Managing the Informatics and Data Modernization Network, which facilitates peer-to-peer learning and information sharing about informatics and data modernization activities/opportunities among members. Bringing key thought leaders together through the Joint Public Health Informatics Task Force to have meaningful conversations about and align initiatives around data modernization. Identifying sustainable funding structures that help health departments accomplish a meaningful data exchange project or infrastructure advancement. Providing technical assistance and developing resources (e.g., tactical guides, issue briefs, robust toolkits) around data modernization and informatics. Conducting legislative tracking and policy assessments to explore legal and policy considerations influencing public health data and technology. Working to modernize public health infrastructure in your health agency? ASTHO’s Public Health Data Modernization and Informatics team would love to help. To get started, browse the team’s data modernization resources, and reach out for personalized support. Contact DMI Team article

State and Territorial Environmental Health Directors (SEHD) The State and Territorial Environmental Health Directors (SEHD) peer group is an organized peer network within ASTHO whose membership includes environmental health leadership from U.S. state, territorial, and freely associated state health agencies. These leaders direct and oversee programs including but not limited to food and water safety, built environment, vector-borne disease, tattoo and body art, toxicology, and environmental epidemiology. Originally convened in 2005, the SEHD peer group strives to advance the practice of environmental public health with the following goals: Develop a national identity and unified voice for state environmental public health practice. Enhance relationships and communication among states and partners. Provide a forum for discussing key and emerging environmental health issues. ASTHO regularly engages the SEHD peer group through monthly calls, regional calls, and the SEHD Annual Meeting. The calls provide opportunities for SEHDs to discuss best practices, new initiatives in their jurisdictions, and major topics of interest. Each year, the SEHD Annual Meeting convenes the peer group to enhance capacity and build partnerships for environmental health programs in the jurisdictions. The meeting aims to increase knowledge of current and emerging environmental health topics through presentations and roundtable discussions, as well as strengthen peer-to-peer relationships through networking and resource sharing opportunities. To learn more about the SEHD peer group, please email the Environmental Health team at environmentalhealth@astho.org. article

APPLETREE COVID-19 Supplemental Awards In early 2021, ASTHO, with support from CDC’s National Center for Environmental Health and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), announced awards to five state health agencies to support their responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. State health agencies in Arkansas, Indiana, Kentucky, Vermont, and Virginia were selected for this opportunity because of their recent application to ATSDR’s Partnership to Promote Local Efforts to Reduce Environmental Exposure (APPLETREE) cooperative agreement program. Vermont requested that ASTHO work directly with their partner organization, Informed Green Solutions (IGS), for this project. The factsheets on this page outline activities supported under these awards. Arkansas Department of Health (PDF) Informed Green Solutions (PDF) (Partner to Vermont Department of Health) Kentucky Department for Public Health (PDF) Indiana Department of Health (PDF) Virginia Department of Health (PDF) website no

Climate and Health association of state and territorial health officials, astho, climate and health, climate change, effects of climate change, public health departments, state and territorial health agencies, adverse health effects, health effects of climate change, environmental health, extreme weather and climate, extreme weather and climate readiness, state and territorial health departments, climate readiness, climate adaptation, extreme weather events, vector-borne disease The ongoing effects of impact every part of our lives, including our individual and community-level health. From rising temperatures, increased occurrence and magnitude of natural disasters, expanded vector-borne disease patterns, to increased transmission of waterborne diseases — the changing natural environment in which we live will affect our health. These issues have led to significant negative health effects on both individuals and populations, particularly high-risk communities. As such, public health departments must address how best to respond to this ongoing crisis. State and territorial health agencies can use surveillance tools, create vulnerability assessments, and develop adaptation plans to prepare and respond to the adverse health effects of climate and extreme weather events. website

This self-paced online training module was developed to address the short- and long-term health effects of climate change on vector-borne disease (VBD) transmission and infection patterns. The goal of this training is to provide geographic information system (GIS) tools and resources to Insular Area Health Agencies to assist in their surveillance of, and response to, vector-borne diseases.

NAVCO National Association of Vector-Borne Disease Control Officials (NAVCO) The National Association of Vector-Borne Disease Control Officials (NAVCO) regularly provides opportunities for members to showcase their work on key vector-borne disease areas. With assistance from CDC, ASTHO manages the National Association of Vector-Borne Disease Control Officials (NAVCO). NAVCO is comprised of state and territorial entomologists, epidemiologists, veterinarians, and other staff who work in vector-borne disease departments in their state or territory. NAVCO, along with ASTHO, is part of the Vector-Borne Disease Network and regularly provides opportunities for members to showcase their work on key vector-borne disease areas. NAVCO's main goals are: Develop and maintain close working relationships among agencies engaged in vector-borne disease control. Promote effective public health measures related to vector-borne disease prevention and control. Facilitate information exchange among the membership. Encourage collaboration among the various professions engaged in vector control. Promote effective vector control legislation. Stimulate the development or expansion of vector-borne disease prevention, surveillance, and control efforts in the United States and encourage similar professional activity elsewhere in the Western Hemisphere. To learn more about NAVCO email the Environmental Health team at environmentalhealth@astho.org. website no

Council to Improve Foodborne Outbreak Response About The Council to Improve Foodborne Outbreak Response (CIFOR) is a multidisciplinary collaboration of national associations and federal agencies working together since 2006 to improve methods to detect, investigate, control, and prevent foodborne disease outbreaks. Council member representatives include expertise in epidemiology, environmental health, public health laboratory activities, and food regulation at the local, state, and federal levels. According to CDC, foodborne illness affects one in six Americans annually. Of the estimated 48 million who get sick from a foodborne illness each year, 128,000 are hospitalized and 3,000 die. Many organizations work to reduce foodborne illness. Outbreak identification and investigation is a key area where multidisciplinary public health professionals must collaborate. CIFOR was created to develop and share guidelines, processes, and products that will facilitate effective foodborne outbreak response. Products CIFOR has contributed to the development of a variety of products to assist with responding to foodborne disease outbreaks. Recent products include the CIFOR 3rd Edition Guidelines for Foodborne Disease Outbreak Response and its companion toolkit that contains a series of worksheets and model program activities. The CIFOR Toolkit helps state and local health departments understand the contents of the Guidelines, furthers their ability to conduct self-assessments of their outbreak detection and investigation procedures, and facilitates implementation of appropriate recommendations from the nine chapters in the Guidelines. The CIFOR Learning Modules is another resource that provide summaries of the CIFOR Guidelines on a variety of topics, including legal preparedness, planning and preparation, surveillance and outbreak detection, control measures, and multi-jurisdictional outbreaks. Workgroup Spotlight CIFOR is comprised of a Governance Committee and workgroups that fulfill the CIFOR mission: Workgroup 1: Increase the capacity of public health systems to identify and eliminate contributing factors and environmental antecedents associated with foodborne disease outbreaks. Workgroup 2: Increase communication and collaboration among the network of public health professionals responding to foodborne disease outbreaks. Workgroup 3: Improve the ability of public health professionals who investigate foodborne disease outbreaks to implement effective recruitment and retention strategies. Workgroup 4: Identify and promote strategies to reduce the time from specimen collection to completion of whole genome sequence analysis. Workgroup 5: Identify and promote strategies to collect, integrate, analyze, and act on data more rapidly and completely during foodborne disease outbreaks. Contact us if you are interested in joining or learning more about a CIFOR Workgroup. Email us at environmentalhealth@astho.org if you are interested in joining or learning more about a CIFOR Workgroup. article no

The Eliminating Structural Racism to Achieve Health Equity Policy Academy fosters the development of governmental workforce policy development skills and boundary spanning leadership to advance policy, systems, and workforce changes to achieve health equity.

Explore the Embedded series, a multi-part series featuring ASTHO’s 19 disability and preparedness specialists placed in jurisdictions nationwide.

Improving Disability Inclusion This page features resources for promoting policies and improving access to services for people with disabilities ASTHO provides a variety of resources to help the public health workforce enhance disability inclusion. These tools focus on promoting inclusive policies and improving access to services for people with disabilities. By implementing strategies that consider the diverse needs of people with disabilities, organizations can ensure equitable access to health and health care as well as enhance community well-being. article

Data and Disability Inclusion Disability inclusion in data is important to understand the health impacts of public health issues on people with disabilities. By collecting and analyzing disability-related metrics, health agencies can identify disparities, improve accessibility, and develop equitable programs. In these resources, ASTHO shares perspectives on inclusive data collection practices, as well as resources to help public health agencies better address the health needs of individuals with disabilities through data. article

A curated collection of resources, tools, and success stories on building capacity for health equity for state, territorial, and freely associated state public health agency leadership, program managers, and team members.

Contact information for every member of the National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health

A highly curated list of resources to support public health change agents advancing population health and equity, focused on rural health.

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