The ASTHO State Health Policy team provides brief updates on 5 of the ten state health policy issues to watch in 2022: mental and behavioral health, rural health, e-cigarettes and flavored tobacco products, HIV and PFAS.
Responsible for planting, growing, harvesting, processing, and preparing the food we eat, agricultural workers are essential workers during the COVID-19 response to keep the U.S. food supply chain operating efficiently. But farmworkers are ...
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 ...
When rural hospitals close, it increases the distance people must travel for essential healthcare services. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted and magnified the factors leading to rural hospital closures across the country. Many ...
With many of the state and territorial legislatures reconvening over the next few weeks, we can look forward to new (and not-so-new) legislation start to crop up that will impact public health. To help navigate the new legislative ...
Rural communities are developing tailored, self-determined solutions to their unique challenges, including directing investments into community health worker programs that reduce disparities.
The youth mental health crisis has created the need for a comprehensive workforce response, which requires educators and school administrative staff, school-based mental health professionals, and communities to work collaboratively to ...
Continuing ASTHO’s Legislative Prospectus series—which highlights the top 10 public health policy issues for 2022—this post focuses on mental and behavioral health, as well as supporting the public health workforce.
Rural hospital closures exacerbate poor socioeconomic conditions, job loss, cost of health services, transportation times and barriers, and inequitable access to quality care, all of which contribute to unfavorable maternal and infant ...
Interview with Pennsylvania Secretary of Health, Rachel Levine about how the commonwealth is working to increase access to healthcare in rural communities by working across agencies to support rural hospitals.
For more than a decade, rural hospitals have been closing (or are in danger of closure) at an alarming rate. As a result, states have used a variety of measures to address and prevent rural hospital closures, including tax incentives, ...
November 18 is National Rural Health Day, a commemoration started by State Offices of Rural Health to recognize the power and resilience of rural communities. Twenty percent of the U.S. population lives in rural communities. Recognizing ...
Vaccines are one of the greatest public health achievements of the last century, as well as some of the most powerful and cost-effective tools to prevent disease, disparities, disability, and death among children and adults. The COVID-19 ...
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 ...
Mylynn Tufte (alumni-ND) discusses the unique challenges faced by rural communities, steps North Dakota is taking to address disparities and improve health outcomes in the state, and how ASTHO's work aligns with these activities.
In this ASTHO Member Spotlight, Karen Murphy of Pennsylvania discusses her routine, professional influences, and public health priorities.
Recent legislation at both the state and federal levels has significantly affected the ability of healthcare providers to serve patients virtually and across state lines.
Food insecurity is a pervasive barrier to the health and well-being of many differing vulnerable populations in the United States, including minority populations and rural communities.