After a year and a half of work as embedded disability specialists, 5 program participants share their reflections on important lessons learned and why disability inclusion is critical to the future of emergency preparedness.
While COVID-19 is still present and ever-changing, public health professionals must also grapple with new challenges such as monkeypox, increasing firearm homicide, and widespread heat waves. In the wake of such emergencies, public health preparedness is more critical than ever.
Deaf people—especially sign language users—are one community that is often overlooked and forgotten in public health communications, which are almost always caused by miscommunication or exclusivity. COVID-19 has shined a light on these inequities.
ASTHO, in collaboration with CDC, provided full-time disability and preparedness specialists to 17 jurisdictions to better meet the needs of people with disabilities. In this brief, specialists share their thoughts on why people living with disabilities may be hesitant to get the COVID-19 vaccine and some approaches public health officials can take to address vaccine hesitancy in people living with disabilities.
People who use electricity-dependent durable medical equipment (DME) at home—such as ventilators and oxygen concentrators—can face life-threatening consequences during a power outage. HHS reports that 2.7 million Medicare beneficiaries rely on electricity-dependent DME to live independently. This ASTHOBrief details the significant challenges that individuals who rely on electricity-dependent DME face during power outages and discuss recent efforts to increase support for this population.
On the 32nd anniversary of the ADA, this blog post explores state legislation around the country that supports people living with disabilities.
The COVID-19 pandemic provided an unprecedented opportunity to speed up developing Delaware’s Functional Assessment Service Team and to test it at scale.
Spanish language version of "Embedded: Puerto Rico’s Public Health Emergency Preparedness Academy" blog post.
On Dec. 3, International Day of Persons with Disabilities, ASTHO is commemorating nearly 12 months of supporting disability and preparedness specialists in state and territorial health agencies. Throughout 2021, ASTHO embedded 20 full-time disability and preparedness specialists within state and territorial public health agencies to ensure an inclusive approach to emergency preparedness. This is the first of a multi-part series spotlighting these embedded experts.
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.
Following disruptions to daily life caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, emergency departments saw an increase of mental health-related visits. A June 2021 study showed a significant increase of mental health-related visits among 12–17-year-olds compared to the previous year. States and territories that implement a comprehensive public health approach to suicide prevention across all domains of life—an approach known as the socio-ecological model—can reduce contributing risk factors.
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.
Every year in mid-July is National Youth Sports Week—in 2021 it falls on July 19-23. It’s an important health observance because youth sports create strong connections with peers and caring adults, as well as promote socio-emotional skills and positive well-being. The Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion’s National Youth Sports Strategy outlines policies and strategies that support access to youth sports. NYSS Champions, including ASTHO, work to promote participation and recognize the positive health outcomes sports can have on youth, such as limiting the impacts of adverse childhood experiences and building resiliency.
On Dec. 3, the International Day of People with Disabilities commemorates disability rights and brings awareness to essential issues for those with disabilities by promoting the “well-being of persons with disabilities in all spheres of society.” While the ADA laid a critical foundation for disability rights, the work to ensure equitable access to services and needs continues, including access to state and local emergency preparedness and response activities like crisis communication, access to resources, allocation of vaccine and other medical countermeasures, and transportation.
The adage “what gets measured, gets done” has had staying power for a reason. When we can accurately describe conditions, quantify impact, and elucidate connections, we have a better chance at taking collective (and effective) action to tackle even the most challenging problems facing our communities. The National Survey of Children’s Health is a powerful tool to provide this critical information to researchers, policymakers, and state-level decision makers.
Discover how improving public health data infrastructure can create more robust care for people with disabilities in this blog post.
It has never been more important for public health to better understand the disability community and quickly build skills and resources to better serve them, which makes it critical to include more people living with disabilities in the public health workforce.