Agenda

Opening Keynote Address and Q&A: Decolonizing Data Towards Indigenous Justice

The session will focus on examining the low representation of American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) populations in data, what it means to "decolonize data," and how AI/AN communities can be included in the data analysis process.

• Examine why AI/AN individuals who live in large urban settings across the United States have low representation in data.
• Describe awareness on what does it means to "decolonize data" and how the AI/AN community be included in the data analysis process.
• Identify what public health professionals can do to ensure AI/ANs have representation in data.

Keynote Speaker:

• Abigail Echo-Hawk, MA, Executive Vice President, Seattle Indian Health Board and Director, Urban Indian Health Institute

Introduction:

• Morgan Zialcita, MSPH, Senior Analyst, Health Equity and Diversity Initiatives, ASTHO

Wellness and Transition Break

Breakout Sessions

Breakout sessions will highlight innovations and tactical strategies to advance health and racial equity in governmental public health through workforce development, community engagement, and data analysis.

10:35 - 11:15 a.m. ET

Round 1 Breakout Sessions

Health Equity in Overdose Prevention Through a Justice Lens
Learn about historical injustice in U.S. drug overdose response policy, how those policies contribute to current overdose trends for different populations, and best practices for moving health equity in overdose prevention forward.

• Examine emergent public health issues.
• Apply evidence-based and promising practices to advance health and racial equity.

Speakers:

• Nicole Alexander-Scott, MD, MPH, Senior Executive Consultant (alumni-RI)
• Jennifer D. Oliva, JD, MBA, BS, Professor of Law and Co-Director, UCSF/UC Law Consortium on Law, Science & Health Policy

Moderator:

• Jennifer Farfalla, MPH, Director, Overdose Prevention, ASTHO

Promising Impact and Outcomes from Federal Investments in Advancing Health Equity and Justice
State public health agencies are integral to establishing a culture of health equity and achieving justice, yet they continue to face challenges in creating lasting systems to improve public health systems and infrastructure. This session outlines emerging insights, to date, among states and with the support of ASTHO's Programmatic Health Equity Initiatives and Strategy team.

• Explore strategies for meaningful and lasting systems change, creating inclusive and equitable public health systems through a justice lens.
• Identify emerging trends in developing justice-based strategic priorities, partnership approaches, program development and implementation, as well as policies and practices.

Speakers:

• Aika Aluc, MPH, Director, State and Community Engagement, ASTHO
• Tenesha Lewis, MPH, Director, Programmatic Health Equity Initiatives, ASTHO

Moderator:

• Alicia D. Justice, MPH, Senior Director, Programmatic Health Equity Initiatives and Strategy, ASTHO

Disability Justice: Lessons Learned from the COVID-19 Pandemic
Approximately one-in-four individuals in the United States live with some form of disability. People living with disabilities face barriers in daily life, and consideration of their unique needs is critical to prevent the exacerbation of these barriers. Ongoing responses efforts to the COVID-19 pandemic have highlighted opportunities within our existing preparedness and healthcare frameworks for improved inclusion and accessibility. Speakers in this breakout session will share the specific and significant impacts of the pandemic on people living with disabilities and how those lessons learned translate to the bigger picture of disability justice.

• Explain how barriers and inequities experienced by people living with disabilities throughout the pandemic led to adverse health outcomes.
• Identify novel solutions to promote disability integration in preparedness.
• Expand on how these experiences can be applied to the broader frame of disability justice.

Speaker:

• Sara Hart Weir, MS, Executive Director, Kansas Developmental Disabilities Council

Moderator:

• Joseph Kanter, MD, MPH, (SHO-LA)

11:30 a.m. - 12:10 p.m. ET

Round 2 Breakout Sessions

Health Equity in All Policies
Illustrate how state health agencies have implemented a Health Equity in All Policies (HiAP) approach to aid health equity and racial justice work.

• Examine the intersection between HiAP and health equity.
• Assess how states have implemented HiAP as part of their health equity and racial justice efforts.
• Identify tools states and partners use to address health equity through a HiAP lens.
• Recommend strategies to utilize HiAP to examine the impact of systems on health.

Speakers:

• Julia Caplan, MPP, MPH, Executive Director, State of Equity (Public Health Institute)
• Jeannette L. Raymond, Public Health Practice Assistant Section Manager, Minnesota Department of Health

Moderator:

• Margarita Northrop, MPH, MIPA, State Health Plan Coordinator
  Office of Policy and Practice Alignment, Division of Public Health, Department of Health Services

Health Equity and Lead Poisoning Prevention: Taking Action to Protect Those in Most Need
Prioritize the opportunities and challenges to implementing CDC’s updated blood lead reference value as a trigger point for public health action. Our speaker will share how this updated value affects state and territorial health departments’ childhood lead poisoning prevention goals, especially for those individuals at highest risk who are often unable to shoulder the high costs of lead abatement.

• Examine how adopting CDC’s updated blood lead reference value as a trigger for public health action impacts lead poisoning prevention caseloads.
• Recommend strategies state and territorial health agencies can explore to ensure they are using their limited resources to target those high-risk children and families who may not have the financial resources to reduce lead exposures.

Speaker:

• Clifford S. Mitchell, MS, MD, MPH, Director, Environmental Health Bureau, Maryland Department of Health

Moderator:

• Elke Shaw-Tulloch, MHS, (SHO-ID)

Maternal Health Equity and Justice
The United States experiences the worst rates of maternal mortality and morbidity among high-income nations, with Black and American Indian/Alaskan Native women dying at a rate of nearly three-to-four times higher than White women. Most of these deaths are preventable. This session will discuss the barriers that prevent equitable maternal outcomes for Black women, indigenous women, and women of color, the role states and territories play in developing and implementing equitable maternal health recommendations, and how working with communities to address the social determinants of health and centering equity in all policies will improve maternal mortality.

• Classify structural and societal barriers impact access to equitable comprehensive maternal health for Black women and women of color.
• Identify the critical role state and territorial maternal mortality review committees play in developing and making recommendations to improve equitable maternal health.
• Examine the importance of fostering state and community partnerships, diversifying the maternal workforce, and centering equity in developing supportive policies and programs when addressing maternal health.

Speaker:

• Sarah Verbiest, DrPH, MSW, MPH, Co-Director, Maternal Health Learning and Innovation Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Moderator:

• Kimberlee Wyche-Etheridge, MD, MPH, Senior Vice President of Health Equity and Diversity Initiatives, ASTHO