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.
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 ...
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 ...
On Aug. 11, 2022, ASTHO's Chief Medical Officer issued a statement of support for CDC's new COVID-19 guidelines.
Each video in this series focuses on a unique topic and features stories from ASTHO’s disability and preparedness specialists in the field. The videos demonstrate how they work to ensure information, testing, and COVID-19 vaccination sites ...
In 2021, ASTHO convened state environmental health directors and directors of public health preparedness to discuss innovations developed during the COVID-19 pandemic such as virtual inspections. This ASTHOBrief explores how state health ...
In an effort to bolster COVID-19 response efforts, state and territorial health agencies looked to update or implement new digital tools and technologies. In response, ASTHO developed a COVID-19 Technology & Digital Tools Inventory to ...
In October 2021, the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and Children’s Hospital Association declared a joint national state of emergency in children’s mental health. The declaration stated ...
ASTHO has been helping jurisdictions prepare for and respond to the needs of people with disabilities during public health emergencies by embedding disability preparedness specialists in 16 state and 2 territorial health agencies.
To help reverse upward trends in heart disease, CDC has called on state and territorial health departments to continue work in tobacco and obesity prevention, the dominant behavioral risk factors for cardiovascular disease.
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 ...
ASTHO placed 14 disability and preparedness specialists in health agencies to support inclusivity of people living with disabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. In this brief, three of these specialists share their experiences ...
The Embedded specialist in South Carolina used an ASTHO tool to assist the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control improve inclusivity of people living with disabilities in their public health programs.
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 ...
On August 9, 2022, ASTHO Chief Medical Officer Marcus Plescia, MD, MPH, released a statement on the declaration of monkeypox as a national public health emergency.
ASTHO Chief Medical Officer Marcus Plescia, MD, MPH, Comments on COVID-19 Vaccine Approval for Children Ages Six Months to Five Years ARLINGTON, VA—Today, Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) Chief Medical Officer ...
The COVID-19 pandemic provided an unprecedented opportunity to speed up developing Delaware’s Functional Assessment Service Team and to test it at scale.
On July 27, 2023, ASTHO announced it has been selected as a 2023 Power of Associations Gold Award winner for its Partnering for Vaccine Equity initiative, and a 2023 Power of Associations Silver Award winner for its Disability and ...
Public health officials have a significant opportunity to provide leadership on the issue of Long COVID, through their own authorities, and by capitalizing on their influence in the public health and healthcare sectors.
The disparities experienced during the COVID pandemic have brought a national focus to health equity in our nation. The attention and resources currently being provided to help address health inequities provide an opportunity that I have ...