The ASTHO Policy Institute for STI and Infectious Disease Prevention is designed to help state and territorial health officials/staff strengthen their capacity to engage in policy-related work around STIs, infectious diseases, and other public health priority areas. It is a multi-part learning and technical assistance opportunity, including:
- ASTHO’s signature virtual policy training.
- A Lunch and Learn webinar series.
- Office hours for jurisdiction-specific discussions.
- More targeted technical assistance, as needed.
In addition, participants will have opportunities to connect with peers across jurisdictions and receive tailored support to advance real-world public health policy priorities.
Eligible Participants
All ASTHO Policy Institute offerings are open to state health officials, senior deputies, legislative liaisons, infectious disease program managers and staff, and other relevant state and territorial health department staff. Participants are strongly encouraged to inform their state health official of their participation.
Policy Institute Offerings
Virtual Policy Training
ASTHO’s Policy Academy on Demand — its signature virtual policy training — provides in-depth, foundational guidance to support policy-related programmatic work at all health department levels. Designed as a “Policy 101” overview, this asynchronous, self-paced course (approximately 3.5 hours) builds core policy skills and knowledge to help public health leaders navigate the policy development process and apply it to advance public health outcomes. An accompanying discussion guide, “Building Core Policy Skills,” with a focused framework on STI prevention provides insight into the training and helps participants connect concepts to actionable public health strategies.
Lunch and Learn Webinar Series
These live, monthly online sessions focus on timely policy issues that STI prevention programs face. Each webinar will discuss a different priority topic and explore policy options to address pressing STI and infectious disease challenges.
Webinar #1: Medicaid Policy & Implications for STI Prevention
Date: March 19, 1-1:45 pm ET
Objectives:
- Identify key Medicaid policy changes relevant to STI and infectious disease programs.
- Understand implications for coverage and access to infectious disease prevention and care services.
Check back here for registration information on future Lunch and Learn webinars.
Office Hours
Office hours, led by a member of ASTHO’s State Health Policy team, provide more targeted support to jurisdictions as they explore policy challenges and solutions. Pre-registration is required and will open soon. In addition, completion of the Policy Academy on Demand is strongly encouraged prior to registering for office hours or seeking additional technical assistance.
April Office Hour – Problem Identification: Moving from Data to a Clear Problem Statement
Date: April 2, 1-2 pm ET
Objectives:
- Discuss real-world STI prevention issues from jurisdictions (e.g., rising case rates, screening gaps, inequities).
- Work through a guided root cause analysis to uncover the structural, systems, and policy drivers at play.
- Use guided discussion and practical exercise to learn how to translate data into a focused data-informed problem statement that can guide policy development and program improvement.
Additional Technical Assistance
More intensive, tailored, on-demand technical assistance is also available upon request for jurisdictions seeking deeper support. This includes interactive virtual workshops that connect key steps in the policy development process to current public health challenges in your jurisdiction.
For technical assistance, please contact Julia Greenspan, director of Infectious Disease Infrastructure and Policy, at jgreenspan@astho.org.
Learn More
For questions about the ASTHO Policy Institute for STI and Infectious Disease Prevention, please contact Julia Greenspan, director of Infectious Disease Infrastructure and Policy, at jgreenspan@astho.org.