APHA, public health groups back climate change bill
As heat waves, droughts and extreme weather events occur with greater intensity and frequency, the nation’s public health organizations announced renewed support for a measure to improve preparedness for climate change.
11 health departments earn first-ever accreditations
The public health world just reached a historic milestone. The Public Health Accreditation Board – a program founded in 2011 to set performance standards for the more than 3,000 U.S. public health departments – announced today five-year accreditations for 11 public health departments.
With no deal in sight, public health risks a reality
By missing its March 1 deadline, Congress ran out of time to strike a budget deficit deal that would replace $85 billion in federal cuts split between defense and discretionary funding.
APHA launches Online Continuing Education Program
Finding relevant opportunities to earn continuing education credits and satisfy professional licensing or credentialing requirements can be difficult, particularly for those working in public health. But thanks to a new program from APHA, those offerings are now more accessible.
All-in-one policy search tool to help counties improve health
From the developers behind the County Health Rankings comes a new tool that provides a list of policies and programs that can be used to improve health, with a particular focus on policies and strategies that address social determinants of health, including income, employment and education, among others.
ASTHO kicks off annual meeting in Austin
State health officers from across the country convened in Austin, Texas, today for the start of the annual meeting of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.
APHA’s Benjamin speaks at IOM about future of public health workforce
On Monday, APHA Executive Director Georges Benjamin addressed the Institute of Medicine’s Forum on Microbial Threats. The IOM symposium, entitled Sustaining Public Health Capacity in an Age of Austerity, focused on challenges facing the field of public health given the difficult financial and political climate in the U.S.
Health corps helps doctors serve areas with needs: Program growing
Jamie Bell, MD, has a job she loves, working with a poor population in a Birmingham, Ala., hospital. Most of her patients have serious, chronic medical conditions. Thanks to the National Health Service Corps, she receives financial assistance while working in an underserved area for at least two years.
Bolstering public health workforce, a “national experiment”
Part of the Affordable Care Act’s Prevention and Public Health Fund is intended to send a major lifeline to public health by bolstering its beleaguered workforce. The Washington Post recently reported on the impact the fund is having at the local level and why, amid ongoing budget cuts, this critical investment is desperately needed.
A healthy worker is a productive one
This past week, more than 100 employers, policy makers, and health experts attended the US Healthiest HealthLead Forum. The HealthLead program works to make workplaces healthier and encourage companies to place a greater focus on employee health.
A bright future for health data, innovators
If there is anything that gets a room of entrepreneurs, change makers and innovators all jazzed up, it is, perhaps, health data. And what musters even more enthusiasm is the possibility of availing that data to spawn innovative ideas that improve health.
