The COVID-19 pandemic presented an opportunity for an existing behavioral health resource—the Guam Behavioral Health and Wellness Center’s Crisis Hotline—to become a household name. During the pandemic, the hotline became a lifeline for a ...
In February 2023, ASTHO staff traveled to Koror, Palau for a four-day health equity summit and held workshops to identify, select, and prioritize measures for Palau’s health equity work.
As COVID spread through the country and infection rates rose in every state, many of the the U.S. Affiliated Pacific Islands (USAPI) received media attention for remaining relatively COVID-free. The USAPI’s unified response in the face of ...
Every year, ASTHO performs an annual environmental scan to identify these policy and programmatic priorities. The most recent scan occurred from June 2019 to May 2020. Through ongoing collection of data from a variety of sources—including ...
The 2020 holiday season is coinciding with a nationwide surge of COVID-19 cases. With great concern that holiday travel to see loved ones may exacerbate community spread of the virus, many states are increasing public health measures ...
This how-to guide provides steps, tips, and templates for developing and maintaining effective partnerships within island health agencies.
Over the past several years, states and jurisdictions have continued to implement important policies to reduce tobacco and nicotine use, including increasing tobacco prices, expanding areas deemed “smoke-free,” limiting the sale of ...
Medicaid plays a critical role in providing access to health services for low-income U.S. citizens in the five U.S. territories. However, Medicaid financing in the territories has been underfunded compared to states. In this episode, ...
Hearing the Hill astho, association of state and territorial health officials, opioid crisis, covid-19 funds, public health, public health data and workforce, american rescue plan, promoting health, drug overdose death, coronavirus ...
Collecting and sharing data are crucially important to improving health equity, because those datasets inform effective policymaking. Despite having some of the most challenging population health outcomes, the U.S. island areas are often ...
When Beatriz Vallejo, the disability and preparedness specialist in Puerto Rico, first joined the health agency, she took on planning a novel program to share knowledge and clarify each sectors’ roles and responsibilities during an ...
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 ...
Spanish language version of "Embedded: Puerto Rico’s Public Health Emergency Preparedness Academy" blog post.
COVID-19 has stressed the U.S. healthcare and public health systems and highlighted racial and ethnic disparities in pre-existing conditions and health outcomes. In this episode, our guests discuss how health officials can serve as chief ...
How the U.S. Virgin Islands is Improving Federal Grants Management astho, association of state and territorial health officials, public health, grant programs, grant management, overall health, health system, improving health, social ...
In the spring of 2022, ASTHO’s island area members convened at the first island-focused COVID-19 Health Equity Action Institutes and asked each other what creating an equitable and sustainable public health and healthcare system looks like ...
ASTHO has several members from the territories and Freely Associated States—jurisdictions with unique challenges, and do not fall under the category of a state or federal district. This post is a brief look at some of the public health ...
The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children is a targeted public health nutrition program designed to support nutrition and health behaviors that reach low-income families. The program is funded through ...
Each year, ASTHO tracks and analyzes key legislation that impacts public health, and highlights the emerging trends for our members. While the bulk of the tracked legislation arises in state legislatures, ASTHO also follows legislation ...
In this post, ASTHO explores the conversations and considerations that went into developing the Islands Health Equity Framework.