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Learn how state and territorial legislatures can bolster or restrict public health legal authority, with examples from early COVID-19 as well as 2024.

COVID-19 has elevated our nation’s stress level. When not managed properly (or without any buffers like social support) stress is associated with increased depression and anxiety. Because COVID-19 impacts risk factors for suicide, such as ...

Adopting a public health approach to substance use by implementing harm reduction policies across all levels of government can help communities address the overdose crisis. This post analyzes e

This brief outlines some of the barriers that pregnant and postpartum women with opioid use disorder face, as well as examples of state legislation passed to address recovery program implementation, treatment funding and insurance ...

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.

Following disruptions to daily life caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, emergency departments saw an increase of mental health-related visits. A June 2021 study showed a significant increase of mental health-related visits among ...

Several states and territories, as well as many local governments, are going beyond recommendations and requiring individuals to wear face coverings when they are in public settings and spaces (i.e. grocery stores, retail stores, ...

This ASTHOBrief discusses how breastfeeding acts as a protective factor for maternal mental health, negative impacts of COVID-19 on breastfeeding and maternal mental health, state actions to improve maternal mental healthcare and lactation ...

Tobacco use causes 480,000 premature deaths each year, making it the leading cause of preventable death in the United States. In collaboration with CDC, ASTHO is leading an effort to explore how states can use Medicaid data to quantify ...

This report highlights recommendations for structuring and advancing cross-agency approaches to substance use disorder prevention and treatment.

Over the past several years, states and jurisdictions have continued to implement important policies to reduce tobacco and nicotine use, including increasing tobacco prices, expanding areas deemed “smoke-free,” limiting the sale of ...

In 2023 legislative sessions, states considered measures to improve access to care for pregnant people experiencing substance use disorder, increase provider knowledge of screening and treatment practices, coordinate care for conditions ...

Perinatal substance use is a serious public health issue, resulting in detrimental and even life-threatening fetal outcomes, and it continues to grow.

Creating community gathering spaces, or placemaking, has garnered considerable attention in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Youth sports is an important outgrowth of placemaking as they can be a protective factor in preventing ACEs and ...

Examining state and federal policies to increase access to tele behavioral health services.

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.

A pressing public health issue before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the need for public health interventions to reduce tobacco use is heightened with a strong association between tobacco use, in all forms, with severe COVID-19 outcomes. ...

This infographic highlights 10 high-level strategies to advance work in school behavioral health.

Initial estimates from 2020 suggest that annual drug overdose deaths in the United States reached a record high of 93,000. Fortunately EMS strategies are being put in place to combat this nation-wide issue.

The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted youth mental health, particularly as a result of school closures, social isolation, family economic hardship, fear of family loss or illness, and reduced access to healthcare. However, states ...