Find Resources
Emerging Practices that show potential to achieve desirable public health outcomes in a specific real-life setting and produce early results that are consistent with the objectives of the activities and thus indicate effectiveness.
RELEASE DATE:
White Paper/Brief
This article discusses the need for a disability data justice framework to support health equity goals. Even though 27% of American adults report having a disability, there exists limited COVID-19 data for the disabled community. Some public health surveys administered during the pandemic did not incorporate questions around disability until 2021. The article presents a series of recommendations on ways to achieve disability data justice. These include making disability a core element of all demographic data collection alongside race, ethnicity, and gender identity, increasing representation of disabled people across health professions, collaborating with members of the disabled community when developing and implementing disability data collection, and making health data accessible to all people with disabilities.
Promising Practices that show evidence of effectiveness in improving public health outcomes in a specific real-life setting, as indicated by achievement of aims consistent with the objectives of the activities, and are suitable for adaptation by other communities.
RELEASE DATE:
Other
This episode from the podcast 99 Percent Invisible reflects on how the COVID-19 pandemic exposed the American public to a long-standing problem: the disjointed nature of the U.S. health system. Because state and local health departments largely operate independently and use their own data collection and analysis tools, health systems across the country lack standardized data definitions and systems. These inconsistencies made it nearly impossible to collect and analyze comprehensive, standardized data on COVID-19 cases, deaths, and vaccines administered amid the pandemic. Health experts featured on this episode believe that the pandemic made the need for an overhaul of America’s informatics system very apparent. When rebuilding this system, it’s important to focus on remedying existing inequalities in data collection and classification that in some cases render the health status of certain populations – think Native American communities and other communities of color – completely invisible in the data. By virtue of being small populations, it can be difficult for health departments to collect sufficient and/or statistically significant data on minority communities. Another issue discussed in this episode is the use of broad racial categories like “other,” “multiple races,” or even “Asian American,” which, if not disaggregated, obscures the health status of diverse populations who are grouped under the same category. Without comprehensive and inclusive health data, it’s difficult to identify disparities and implement policies and programming that promote social mobility and health equity.
Promising Practices that show evidence of effectiveness in improving public health outcomes in a specific real-life setting, as indicated by achievement of aims consistent with the objectives of the activities, and are suitable for adaptation by other communities.
RELEASE DATE:
White Paper/Brief
This study from the American Journal of Managed Care identifies the main factors influencing the implementation and sustainability of cross-sector data sharing between a community-based organization and an academic medical center via a case study of the Mid-Ohio Farmacy (MOF) produce referral program. The MOF is a unique program developed by the Mid-Ohio Food Collective and Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center (OSUWMC) to provide food insecure patients who have a qualifying chronic condition with money to purchase produce from food pantries on a monthly basis. Researchers conducted a series of key informant interviews with OSUWMC and Mid-Ohio Food Collective representatives to characterize the challenges of data sharing between the academic medical center and the community-based organization. Challenges were grouped into three main buckets: data sharing regulations, data exchange capabilities, and cross sector data integration. Some keys findings from this paper include the need for clarification around HIPPA regulations for data exchange between covered and non-covered entities, the importance of incorporating social-risk data (such as a food security screening tool) into the electronic health record, and the need for additional research and guidance around how to create fully integrated shared databases between health care and social service agencies.
Emerging Practices that show potential to achieve desirable public health outcomes in a specific real-life setting and produce early results that are consistent with the objectives of the activities and thus indicate effectiveness.
RELEASE DATE:
Other
The article discusses the challenges and frustrations surrounding Long COVID research in the United States. Despite substantial investments and numerous research efforts, progress in understanding and treating Long COVID has been slow and disappointing. Experts and patient advocates have criticized the research community for its focus on disease development rather than direct patient care, duplication of studies, and a lack of clinical trials. The authors propose a new hypothesis that Long COVID may be a form of post-infectious syndrome or chronic fatigue syndrome, suggesting that traditional biomedical research approaches may not yield meaningful results. Instead, they advocate for a shift towards health services research and measures that directly impact patients’ welfare, including prevention, improved prognosis, access to empathetic care, and quality of life issues. They emphasize the need for collaboration between researchers, patients, and advocacy groups to reset the research agenda effectively.
Promising Practices that show evidence of effectiveness in improving public health outcomes in a specific real-life setting, as indicated by achievement of aims consistent with the objectives of the activities, and are suitable for adaptation by other communities.
RELEASE DATE:
White Paper/Brief
Using a grant from the National Science Foundation, Predictive Intelligence for Pandemic Prevention (PIPP) developed tools and systems to respond effectively to infectious disease pandemics. Recommendations from this work include avoiding reinvention of the wheel by centralizing and standardizing approaches to pandemic response planning, collaboration and information sharing among public health stakeholders, investing in high-performance computing and data management systems for public health, creating a national center for pandemic response, developing playbooks for fast-moving threats, and identifying sustainable and scalable solutions.
Promising Practices that show evidence of effectiveness in improving public health outcomes in a specific real-life setting, as indicated by achievement of aims consistent with the objectives of the activities, and are suitable for adaptation by other communities.
RELEASE DATE:
White Paper/Brief
This study investigates deaf American Sign Language (ASL) users’ access to telehealth and outpatient encounters during the pandemic. The findings emphasize the importance of optimizing proactive accommodation planning and access including in telehealth platforms.
Promising Practices that show evidence of effectiveness in improving public health outcomes in a specific real-life setting, as indicated by achievement of aims consistent with the objectives of the activities, and are suitable for adaptation by other communities.
RELEASE DATE:
White Paper/Brief
This article discusses strategies to promote equity in COVID-19 antiviral treatment. It highlights the disproportionate effect of the pandemic on marginalized groups and the need to address inequities in access to antiviral medications. The authors discuss barriers to equity, such as low awareness, limited access to healthcare, scarcity of therapeutics, and treatment prioritization. They propose strategies to overcome these barriers, including community-driven outreach campaigns, addressing healthcare costs for uninsured patients, transparent allocation of therapeutics, and monitoring data to ensure equity. The article emphasizes the importance of proactive and transparent approaches to promote health equity in COVID-19 treatment.
Promising Practices that show evidence of effectiveness in improving public health outcomes in a specific real-life setting, as indicated by achievement of aims consistent with the objectives of the activities, and are suitable for adaptation by other communities.
RELEASE DATE:
White Paper/Brief
This article discusses what is needed to establish and improve evidence-based decision making competencies in local public health departments. It identifies five domains of “administrative evidence-based practices” to help local health departments: leadership, workforce development, organizational culture and climate, partnerships, and financial transparency. It offers guidance on implementing evidence-based decision making practices.
Novel Practices that show potential to achieve desirable public health outcomes in a specific real-life setting and are in the process of generating evidence of effectiveness or may not yet be tested.
RELEASE DATE:
White Paper/Brief
This proposed policy statement identifies a rethinking the public health workforce structure as a means to promote health equity. Guidance includes the use of community-based advisory boards, salary assessments to better understand challenges related to compensation, the elevation of lived experience, accreditation evaluation using equity metrics, and leadership training in community-centered and community-responsive public health approaches.
Novel Practices that show potential to achieve desirable public health outcomes in a specific real-life setting and are in the process of generating evidence of effectiveness or may not yet be tested.
RELEASE DATE:
White Paper/Brief
This article discusses the development of the Visible app, which uses wearables or smart watches to help measure and manage long COVID. Visible helps to manage long COVID and other chronic fatigue diseases with a heartrate-monitored guidance strategy that emphasizes pacing as long COVID patients return to physical activity.