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The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the intersections of social determinants of health, such as transportation, education, and housing, and their impact on the health of individuals and communities. As the moratorium on evictions ends in many parts of the United States, housing in particular looms as a potential public health crisis. Braiding and layering funding is when government agencies and non-traditional partners collaborate and coordinate to combine different streams of funding to address social determinants of health. This post lists three examples where funding has been successfully braided or layered to support housing needs.

Economic security and well-being, job stability, access to safe and affordable housing, access to healthy and nutritious foods, and access to resources to manage mental and physical health—all of these things impact individual, family, and community health. The COVID-19 pandemic has fundamentally impacted each of these social determinants of health for many Americans. Furthermore, some communities and industries have faced harder economic impacts than others, including households with low incomes, non-white households, and households with children. Human services and public health leaders can collaborate to make sure we are rebuilding systems and programs in a way that creates healthier, more resilient families and communities.

Though now an illegal practice, government contracts, policies, and practices have generally excluded women, and Black, Indigenous, and people of color. Still, practices and existing structures continue the inequitable distribution of all contracts. Governmental and non-governmental grants and funding should benefit the communities they serve while being proportionate to the communities' demographics. This is where inclusive contracting comes in.

As we celebrate National Rural Health Day this year, we are reminded of how important telehealth can be for public health and healthcare. Telehealth can minimize challenges faced by rural patients and communities—such as transportation, provider shortages, etc.—manage volume, increase the quality of healthcare, and lower overall costs by reducing readmissions and avoidable emergency department visits. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has shown that access to reliable broadband is still a challenge and is a key social determinant of health for rural Americans.

As the Delta variant spreads across the country and increases the number of COVID-19 cases, the strain it is placing on the nation’s health system continues to grow. The surge of COVID-19 patients is contributing to a shortage of the medications and equipment used to treat the disease. As these limitations grow, decisions will need to be made as to which patients receive resources and care and which patients don’t. To guide these decisions, policies called crisis standards of care are often established to maximize resource benefit and ensure they are distributed equitably.

Discover why community health workers are crucial for health equity and require sustained investment in this episode of Public Health Review.

A Roadmap for Using a Public Health Approach to Prevent Firearm Injury public health approach, prevent firearm injury, firearm related death, firearm violence, prevention strategies, health equity, diverse communities, risk and protective factors, racism and discrimination, access to firearms, social determinants of health, criminal justice, risk factor, determinants of health, centers for disease control, social determinants, disease control and prevention, department of health, diverse communities, preventing firearm, police officers, suicide attempts, domestic violence, young adults, leading cause of death, firearm owners, death rates, criminal justice system, astho, association of state and territorial health officials How to Prevent Firearm Injury with a Public Health Approach Firearm-related injuries and deaths pose a significant public health concern, surpassing the annual mortality rate from car crashes in the United States. The widespread impact of such incidents includes not just the loss of lives and physical injury but the psychological trauma endured by millions who have lost loved ones to firearm injury or who live in constant fear of being shot. Recognizing the complexity of the issue, health agencies advocate for a public health approach to address firearm violence, aiming to target underlying factors contributing to the well-being of Americans and to prevent future harm. This roadmap outlines a step-by-step guide for jurisdictions to enhance their efforts in firearm injury prevention, aligning with a modified version of the public health approach model developed by CDC and WHO. By leveraging the successes of this approach in addressing various health issues, jurisdictions can strengthen their infrastructure to effectively integrate firearm injury and death prevention into broader public health initiatives. Get the Report (PDF) website yes

While the Biden Administration and Congress have no shortage of immediate health issues to focus on, improving maternal health outcomes—particularly Black maternal morbidity and mortality—have become a priority for federal lawmakers. To make sense of what’s going on, ASTHO staff partnered with the Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs (AMCHP) to outline the seven things to know happening on the federal level right now.

Well before COVID-19 hit, an increasing share of American households faced housing challenges. This is a public health concern because stable, affordable, and accessible housing has a direct and well-documented impact on physical and mental health outcomes. The window to act is now. Further, the high number of households with unstable housing and accumulating debt—as well as the stark racial disparities present—mean we must rethink how our systems and institutions operate.

Food insecurity is a pervasive barrier to the health and well-being of many differing vulnerable populations in the United States, including minority populations and rural communities.