The American Health Podcast

Bloomberg Fellow Haven Wheelock and her colleague Jasmine Pettet share more about their work to increase harm reduction outreach for young people who use drugs. 

Bloomberg Fellow Edward McWilliams outlines his journey into public health and his work with young people hoping to create a better future. 

Bloomberg Fellow Anthony Betori and Bloomberg Professor of American Health, Tamar Mendelson, share more about the evolving definition of opportunity youth. 

Tenta Tenorio, of the Commonwealth Healthcare Corporation, Public Health Services in the Northern Mariana Islands shares more about how her organization is providing healthcare to young people in their community. 

Bloomberg Fellow Livy Lewis and her colleague Kelly Pingree, share more about how they plan to use a USDA grant to bring Native foods to the Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming.

The American Health Podcast is back! Join hosts Caitlin Hoffman and Su Tellakat as they explore the impact of the Bloomberg American Health Initiative community, with a focus on adolescent health this season. They will cover topics including the importance of native american food in schools, how to better serve young people who are not in school and are not working, and how to help young people who use drugs. Thanks for listening!

On February 17, the American Public Health Association and the Bloomberg American Health Initiative released a federal policy agenda to address the needs of the more than 4 million young people ages 16 to 24 who are not enrolled in school or in the labor market. In this episode, Andrea McDaniels speaks to two of the people who put this agenda together: Professor Tamar Mendelson, director of the Center for Adolescent Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and C. Pluff, program manager at the American Public Health Association.   To learn more about the federal policy agenda, visit opportunityyouthagenda.org.  

This episode first ran on the Public Health on Call Podcast. For decades, infrastructure policies harmed communities of color. New highways displaced residents through eminent domain, public transit systems were left in disrepair, and urban construction projects often catered to wealthier families. Andrea K. McDaniels, Director of Communications for the Bloomberg American Health Initiative, talks with Professor Keshia Pollack Porter of the Bloomberg School about how President Biden’s $1 trillion infrastructure plan has the potential to rectify many of these inequities, some of the challenges of the federal law, and how infrastructure is intrinsically tied to health and well-being.

When children miss too much school it can negatively impact their health and set back their life potential. In Washington, D.C., pediatricians have partnered with public schools to get students back in the classroom. Andrea K. McDaniels, Director of Communications for the Bloomberg American Health Initiative, talks with two leaders at Children’s National Hospital about the innovative program to share absenteeism data with pediatricians: Dr. Danielle Dooley, a pediatrician and Medical Director of Community Affairs, and Tonya Vidal Kinlow, Vice President of Community Engagement, Advocacy, and Government Affairs. The Chronic Absenteeism Reduction Effort (CARE) is a high-impact project of the Bloomberg American Health Initiative.

The pandemic in some ways put victims of intimate partner violence in more vulnerable positions as support services became out of reach and lost jobs, virtual work and other issues meant women were trapped at home with violent partners. Black women found themselves dealing with these new obstacles as well as the racism and sexism that already existed for them before the pandemic. In this podcast episode, Bloomberg American Health Director of Communications Andrea K. McDaniels spoke with Tiara C. Willie, Bloomberg Assistant Professor of American Health in the Department of Mental Health, and Megan Simmons, Senior Policy Attorney for Ujima, Inc.: The National Center on Violence Against Women in the Black Community, about how the environment created housing instability for Black women. 

Katherine is the Director of the Office on Trafficking in Persons for the Administration for Children and Families at the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). In this episode, you’ll learn about the public health response to human trafficking and hear how healthcare providers act as first responders for those experiencing human trafficking.  A variety of resources are shared and discussed in this episode.  Please find additional information below: Accredited online SOAR Trainings on human trafficking Voices of Freedom announcement with StoryCorps (that will include oral histories and interviews with public health individuals) Human Trafficking Leadership Academy & Survivor Involvement National Human Trafficking Hotline To learn more about the Bloomberg American Health Initiative and the Bloomberg Fellows Program, visit https://americanhealth.jhu.edu/.

Marissa is a Food Systems & Policy Administrator with Jefferson County Public Health in Colorado. She is joined by Tyson Noeth, Executive Director of BGoldN.  In this episode, Marissa and Tyson will discuss what it has been like addressing food insecurity in Jefferson County Colorado during the COVID-19 pandemic and how they have worked together to provide food for the community.  To learn more about the Bloomberg American Health Initiative and the Bloomberg Fellows Program, visit https://americanhealth.jhu.edu/.

Lorne is a Public Health Nurse with the Alaska Section of Public Health Nursing in Homer, Alaska. In this episode, you’ll learn about the importance of public health nursing in the rural parts of Alaska and the differences in public health between Alaska and the lower 48 states. Learn more about Alaska Section of Public Health Nursing: http://dhss.alaska.gov/dph/Nursing/Pages/default.aspx.  To learn more about the Bloomberg American Health Initiative and the Bloomberg Fellows Program, visit https://americanhealth.jhu.edu/.

Ashley is a Senior Policy Associate at the Center For Science in Public Interest (CSPI), a non-profit consumer advocacy group that advocates for safer and healthier foods.  In this episode, you'll hear about Ashley’s work at CSPI and how support from the fellowship program helped her examine the difference in food retail quality between high and low-income communities in the South. Learn more about the CSPI, visit: https://www.cspinet.org To learn more about the Bloomberg American Health Initiative and the Bloomberg Fellows Program, visit https://americanhealth.jhu.edu/.

Melissa is the Clinical Director at ABC Counseling and Family Services in Normal, Illinois.  ABC Counseling was established in 1992 to help kids and families affected by sexual abuse and those in need of adoption services throughout Central Illinois .  In this episode, we will hear about Melissa’s work with ABC Counseling and Family Services and the impact of COVID-19 on children's health and safety, including education, food security, nutrition, abuse and neglect.  Learn more about ABC Counseling and Family Services: https://www.abccounseling.org To learn more about the Bloomberg American Health Initiative and the Bloomberg Fellows Program, visit https://americanhealth.jhu.edu/.

Della Wright, Evaluator and Assistant Director of the Childhood Wellbeing Division at the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice, is joined by Kathy Egland from EEECHO (Education, Economic, Environment, Climate and Health Organization), a CBO in Gulfport, Mississippi.  In this episode, Della and Kathy discuss how their collaboration impacted the translation of COVID-19 data in Mississippi communities that have been historically impacted by air pollution and how they used that data to leverage resources for the community.   Learn more about the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice visit, https://www.dscej.org To learn more about the Bloomberg American Health Initiative and the Bloomberg Fellows Program, visit https://americanhealth.jhu.edu/.

Janice is the Director of Programs and Clinical Services at House of Ruth Maryland where they work towards ending violence against women and their children by confronting the attitudes, behaviors and systems that perpetuate the violence.  In this episode, we will hear about what the House of Ruth Maryland is doing to end intimate partner violence and all of the services that they provide to help victims of intimate partner violence in Maryland. Learn more about House of Ruth Maryland, visit: https://hruth.org To learn more about the Bloomberg American Health Initiative and the Bloomberg Fellows Program, visit https://americanhealth.jhu.edu/.

Jillian Tse is a program coordinator at the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank. In this episode, you will learn about the food bank, its mission, and the effects of the pandemic on their grocery delivery program. Learn more about the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank;  https://www.sfmfoodbank.org  To learn more about the Bloomberg American Health Initiative and the Bloomberg Fellows Program, visit https://americanhealth.jhu.edu/.

JR Westberg is a researcher for the Hennepin Healthcare Research Institute at the Hennepin County Medical Center in Minnesota. Hennepin County Medical Center is one of the oldest non-profit hospitals in Minnesota.  In this episode, we hear more about JR’s research on opioid use after trauma and the role of research on pain medication.  Learn more about Hennepin Healthcare Research Institute: https://www.hhrinstitute.org/  To learn more about the Bloomberg American Health Initiative and the Bloomberg Fellows Program, visit https://americanhealth.jhu.edu/.

Amelia Hulbert is a Healthy Eating, Active Living (HEAL) Specialist with the Boulder County Public Health Department. She is joined by her colleagues Jill Strange, Healthy Food Access Coordinator with the Boulder County Public Health Department,  Mickey Davis, Food Access Specialist with Boulder County Farmers Markets, and Gaby Solano, a Promotora with El Centro Amistad.  In this episode, you will learn more about the City of Boulder’s Sugar Sweetened Beverage Product Distribution Tax and how grant recipients have used these funds specifically for Health Equity.  Learn more:  Boulder County Public Health Department Boulder County Farmers Markets El Centro Amistad  To learn more about the Bloomberg American Health Initiative and the Bloomberg Fellows Program, visit https://americanhealth.jhu.edu/.