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 ...
This June marked the 40-year anniversary of the first five cases of what later became known as AIDS reported in CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Since then, more than 32 million people have died from the disease worldwide and ...
One in three individuals who contract COVID-19 will experience lasting mental health impacts, according to a recent study. This startling discovery underscores the reality facing our nation: the challenges of this last year—the public ...
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
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 ...
People exposed to adverse childhood experiences are at risk for negative physical and/or mental health outcomes, substance use disorders, and unfavorable social outcomes in adulthood. One known risk factor for ACEs is caregiver stress, ...
Across the nation, public health agencies have mounted herculean efforts to stem the COVID-19 pandemic while addressing a pre-existing HIV epidemic and an opioid crisis that is serving as a source for many new HIV outbreaks. Tackling these ...
Each year, ASTHO notes the top public health policy issues to watch in the upcoming year. ASTHO has published a prospectus on several issues, with more coming later this month. ASTHO kicked off its top 10 public health state policy issues ...
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.
In an effort to help meet demand, some states and territories have joined interjurisdictional licensing compacts that allow a mental health care provider licensed in one state to provide care in another state—without needing to gain ...
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 ...
Good news and bad news on tobacco use: smoking rates are down but e-cigarette use continuing rapid rise among youth. Read how states are combating the problem.
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a particularly negative impact on the mental health of adolescent girls. Fortunately, state legislators have been addressing school-based mental health through legislation enacted since the beginning of the ...
While COVID-19 is still present and ever-changing, public health professionals must also grapple with new challenges such as monkeypox, increasing firearm homicide, and widespread heat waves. In the wake of such emergencies, public health ...
Explore how states are enacting legislation to help justice-involved people avoid overdose illness and death and foster a smooth transition after release.
To address the youth tobacco epidemic, jurisdictions filed lawsuits against JUUL to end their marketing practices aimed at youth and to obtain compensation from the financial toll experienced by communities.
A mid-session legislative update on five of ASTHO's top 10 public health state policy issues to watch in 2023: tobacco, HIV, mental health, PFAS, and opioids.
How to Support Youth Post COVID-19 With More Flexible Policies Caitlin Langhorne Griffith, Victoria Pless, Martha Yeide Over the past few months, COVID-19 has highlighted how current policies and funding do not support an equitable ...