Deciding what book to read is a task in itself. To make things easier, ASTHO’s staff curated a list of page-turning and thought-provoking books guaranteed to be worth your time. There’s something for everyone on our list, whether you're looking for an escape or working on personal and professional growth.
Access to quality internet may not be the first thing you think of when you think about health equity, but it is something that impacts many communities. In this interview, ASTHO chats with Craig Settles on ‘broadband redlining’, how pervasive it can be, and why the solutions will need to be community driven.
In 2020 ASTHO published our first summer reading list to give your brain a break from the reality of 2020. Whether you needed to get lost in a piece of fiction or stay sharp with a work of non-fiction, we had your back. Now, as the world starts to open back up, we’re back with more recommendations. Are you finally heading out for that long-awaited vacation? Did quarantine ruin your attention span and now you finally have the bandwidth to pick up a book? No matter the occasion, here is our list of 10 books ASTHO staff loved in 2021.
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the de Beaumont Foundation has worked closely with organizations like ASTHO to support and strengthen public health. The foundation has produced several publications and guides to support public health leaders in their efforts to inform the public about COVID-19 and help build confidence in vaccines. Mark Miller, vice president of communications with the de Beaumont Foundation, shares insights into the foundation’s response efforts to COVID-19, and its partnership with key stakeholders.
One of President Biden’s first actions just before being sworn into office was to draft up the American Rescue Plan, a sweeping proposal that ASTHO has committed to working with the Biden Administration on. The proposal offers a national vaccination plan, a promise to address COVID-19 health disparities, and efforts to prioritize the expansion the public health workforce. This post details some of the high-level takeaways, as they relate to public health.
As Black History Month comes to a close, we wanted to reflect on racial equity and how it is intrinsically connected to the work ASTHO does every day in public health. We spoke to our CEO Michael Fraser and Gail Christopher, DN, the executive director of the National Collaborative for Health Equity, to get their thoughts on the month and how we can prioritize diversity and inclusion year-round.
COVID-19 has revealed the stark reality of racial and ethnic health disparities that exist nationally. Black and Hispanic Americans were nearly three times more likely to die from COVID-19 than white Americans. Black and Hispanic Americans experience a greater prevalence of underlying risk factors such chronic disease and co-morbidities, access to health care, lower socioeconomic status, and others. The root causes of these disparities can be attributed to structural racism and the legacy of policies that perpetuates health inequities. As we commemorate Black History Month throughout the month of February, it is imperative that we work to correct the wrongs of the past and address structural racism and health inequities to build a healthier future.