CALPHO e-News December 2017

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e-news     December 2017   The Federal Budget Rollercoaster Continues in 2018 On December 20th Congress passed a tax reform bill, H.R. 1, that could have serious implications for public health spending including the near elimination of the Prevention and Public Health Fund (PPHF) due to automatic reductions in response to deficit spending. Pair that with the Continuing Resolution that extends funding to CHIP and other public health programs by cutting the PPHF by $750 million, 2018 may start off with public health in a terrifying plummet downward on a twisting and turning ride. NACCHO joined the American Public Health Association, the Prevention Institute, the Public Health Institute, and the Trust for America’s Health in voicing opposition to cuts in “funding … [that would] leave communities without the vital resources needed to keep children and families happy, healthy and safe.” CALPH, Frontline Public Affairs, and our partners at the Colorado Health Policy Coalition, will continue to update you as we learn more about the impacts of these cuts. If you have any stories to share about how your agency may be preparing, please share them with us here at info@calpho.org. Kudos & Accolades invisible text Welcome new Public Health Directors! Three counties have recently hired new public health directors. Join us in welcoming them to the CALPHO family! Conejos County Public Health: Samantha Escobedo Prowers County Public Health and Environment: Jo Lynn Idler Northeast Colorado Health: Trish McClain Health Equity invisible text Collaborating with the Enemy CALPHO Project Manager Shannon Kolman shares her thoughts on the insightful book about collaborating with those we don’t agree with, like or trust. Learn why we may want to re-think what counts as collaborative “success,” and the difficult but often necessary steps to collaborating with people or groups who might fundamentally disagree with your worldview. Read it on the CALPHO blog. invisible text Equity and Adequacy in Long-Term Care: Host a CARE Documentary Viewing Your community is likely facing a growing demand for long-term care services, but the current system strains both professional and family care-givers while delivering more costly and less adequate care. Filmmakers Deirdre Fishel and Tony Heriza have produced a documentary about the challenges and hopes for equitable, effective, and affordable home-based long-term care in our country. The national advocacy group, Caring Across Generations is supporting its distribution by providing a watch party guide for community and group viewing. Learn more about the documentary and access the guide here. Interested in learning more about long-term care equity? Check out this podcast with the co-director of Caring Across Generations, Sarita Gupta. News & Current Events invisible text Colorado Gives CHP+ Clients an Extra Month of Coverage Last Thursday (12/21) the Colorado Joint Budget Committee (JBC) approved the emergency supplemental request to allow HCPF to use the CHP+ Trust Fund to extend the CHP+ program for the month of February in the event that Congress does not provide sufficient funds to cover that month. Termination notices would have been sent to clients on December 26 without this action. The request passed on a vote of 5-0. invisible text Opioids: CIVHC Report Reveals High Cost of Unapproved Prescriptions The powerful opioid painkiller Subsys is only approved for managing persistent pain in patients with a cancer diagnosis. But between 2012 and 2016, 78% of those receiving the painkiller in Colorado did not have cancer, according to a new data release from the Center for Improving Value in Health Care’s (CIVHC) All-Payer Claims Database (APCD). Not only does this practice potentially addict hundreds of people to opioids, it represents about $13.6 Million in avoidable spending (not accounting for the downstream costs of addiction). CIVHC regularly releases “data bytes” from the APCD concerning cost and quality issues health care system. To receive these updates and sign up for the CIVHC newsletter, click here. invisible text Promoting Health with State and Local Tax Policies As fiscal and government experts endeavor to understand the impact of federal tax reform, it is worth exploring how states and localities have used tax policy to promote health or target upstream determinants. The National Academies of the Science, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) recently hosted a workshop entitled “Exploring Tax Policy to Advance Population Health, Health Equity, and Economic Prosperity.” In addition to reviewing the nuance of direct taxation policies that promote healthy behavior, like tobacco and soda taxes, participants discussed how tax credits could be used to target upstream determinants. While economically complex, tax credits generally have the benefit receiving less partisan attention than other tax policies. Since they have the most direct impact on people and groups with higher taxable income, they can be used to target the behavior of powerful, system-level actors. The low-income housing tax credit is an example of this (and participants vigorously debated the merits of that credit during the workshop). The entire workshop was recorded and you can view it here. Spotlight on Local Public Health invisible text Otero’s Multi-County STEPP Program Gets Top Evaluation Marks The Otero County Health Department (OCHD) is the lead tobacco program agency for Otero, Crowley, Cheyenne, Kiowa, Prowers, Baca, Las Animas and Huerfano counties in southeast Colorado. The three tobacco team members in Otero, Donna Starck, Michelle Griego, and Mike Mustain, provide the region with resources and technical assistance in cessation, health system change, local policy, and public school policy. CDPHE recently rated their performance as “above standard” in quality of service and customer service – a rare occurrence for these evaluations. Citing OCHD’s comprehensive approach to getting a tobacco process adopted in all offices of a regional health system, CDPHE noted that “their outstanding collaborative effort is a model for others to emulate.” Otero also helps counties outside their region when asked, and Tobacco Control Program Director Mike Mustain credits this willingness to lend expertise as one reason for their top performance: “We have a great team that works well together and because of Donna’s experience we have many connections across the state that we communicate with to solve problems or answer questions.” Great job, Otero! News from NACCHO invisible text Survey on LPHA-Community Health Center Collaboration The National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) and the Center for Sharing Public Health Services (CSPHS) are developing new tools and resources aimed at helping LPHAs and community health centers (CHCs) collaborate better. Do you know of any LPHAs or CHCs who collaborate in any way? This collaboration can be formal or informal (such as simply sharing services). Please take this short survey (2-3 minutes) to let them know. Highlights from our Partners invisible text Executive Decision Making and Liability Webinar from NPHL Public health officials have great discretion in carrying out their responsibilities to protect health. However, this discretion can be legally challenged by individuals, organizations, and government. This webinar, co-sponsored by the Network for Public Health Law (NPHL) and the Partnership for Public Health Law, participants will learn about discretionary authority, potential legal challenges to discretionary authority, and tools to assist discretionary decision making. The webinar is January 25, 11:00 am to 12:30pm MST. Register here. Opportunities & Resources invisible text Gaining Ground’s Tools to Assist with Accreditation and Quality Improvement If you are looking for tools to assist your LPHA in moving toward accreditation or advancing your quality improvement initiatives, the Colorado Gaining Ground collaboration, which includes CALPHO, CDPHE, RMPHTC, Trailhead Institute, CPHA, and LPHA representatives, has many resources that can help including the following: The QI webpage for Colorado LPHAs, including Tools and Resources. Be sure to check out the A3 Problem Solving and Standard Work tools created by Denver Public Health and the Quality Improvement Trainings. Leading Improvement Projects is targeted to all LPHA staff who may help facilitate an improvement project – formal or informal, big or small – the course was developed to meet the needs of different types of learners by offering a variety of learning methods including self-paced online modules, links to tools and resources, and live learning sessions – register here. The Colorado Accreditation Coordinators Network is offered through CDPHE for any LPHA staff who are interested in public health accreditation. The Network meets monthly through conference call and allows for peer-to-peer networking, sharing of best practices, Q&A, and updates on national guidelines. If you’re interested in joining the Network contact CDPHE Performance Improvement Specialist Leslie Akin. invisible text Share with Your Partners: “Population Dose” Evaluation Method Toolkit This resource, hosted by Kaiser Permanente, includes introductory information and applicable tools for using the dose method of evaluating community health initiatives. Kaiser’s evaluation team designed population dose specifically for multi-channel, community-wide interventions that target a single health behavior. It is a combination of reach measures and strength measures that also allows for estimation of impact on factors that are typically difficult to capture with any precision. Learn more here. invisible text Bridging the Political Divide for Public Health Policy experts are increasingly exploring how to overcome our era’s toxic political polarization to further advance public health goals. A recent study published in the American Journal of Public Health surveyed Democratic and Republican state lawmakers about their values on the health system. While it reveals some predictable gaps, especially over the role of government, it shows that the relatively shared priority of reducing individual costs could be a rallying point for collective action. Messaging and framing around potentially shared priorities would be key to overcoming that dividing toxicity. The Network for Public Health Law released a 3-part webinar series in September 2017 on policy design and communication tactics designed to help overcome political polarization. View the series here. Books & More invisible text The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion By Jonathan Haidt Haidt is a moral psychologist who has built his career on exploring the nuanced middle ground between nature and nurture, between cultural convention and innate morality, and between the different bedrock theories of morality that shape human organization. He shows how these divisions have created artificial and unproductive barriers in the field of psychology. He simultaneously applies this deconstruction to Americans’ political morality, revealing how our very human tendency to build facile, simplistic structures over dizzyingly complex systems has exacerbated political polarization. His exploration of underlying these complexities is also one of his prescriptions for polarization. He urges readers to apply the methods he uses in the book to their ideological selves, and especially to the assumptions we make about “the opposition.” Just reading the first few chapters of the book catalyzes that kind of self-examination, as does this OnBeing podcast discussion with the author. EVENT CALENDAR   NASEM Workshop: Genome Editing and EH Research January 10-11 Washington, DC (also webcast) This workshop will bring together experts in molecular biology, toxicology, and public health to explore opportunities for using genome (and epigenome) editing technologies in environmental health research. Register   Domestic Violence Workshop: Mobilizing Men and Boys January 10 CU Denver The Center on Domestic Violence's spring Community Education Series starts with this day-long workshop on engaging men and boys in domestic and sexual violence work. Attend in person or through live-stream. Register   Colorado Fiscal Institute: 2018 Fiscal Forum January 12 Denver This year’s fiscal forum will host journalist and author Thomas Frank along with economists from the CO Legislative Council and the Governor’s Office. Register   2018 Colorado Communities Symposium Jan. 31 – Feb 2 Aurora, CO Join Governor John Hickenlooper, other elected officials, and community and business leaders to participate in visioning workshops and educational programs related to climate preparedness and clean energy in the state. Register   2018 Agents of Change Summit Februray 12-13, 2018 San Diego, CA The Agents of Change Summit unifies and expands the community of professionals using marketing and technology to change people’s health behaviors for social good Register   CPHA Culture of Data April 6 Arvada, CO Save the date for this exciting conference on public health’s culture of data. Learn More   2018 Policylink Equity Summit April 11-13, 2018 Chicago, IL Participants will explore the complexity and urgency of building a multiracial coalition at this pivotal moment for our nation, focusing on practice and policy, politics and power—the ingredients needed for transformative change. Register   2018 NACCHO Preparedness Summit April 17-20, 2018 Atlanta, GA This year’s Summit will explore the theme, “Strengthening National Health Security: Mastering Ordinary Responses, Building Resilience for Extraordinary Events.” Register   2018 NNPHI Annual Conference May 22-24, 2018 New Orleans, LA The 2018 NNPHI Annual Conference and Public Health Workforce Forum will explore the role of institutes, training centers, and systems partners in creating shared value in cross sector partnerships and workforce development. Learn More   Thank you for reading. If you have any comments or ideas for future CALPHO e-newsletters, please email us at info@calpho.org.    The purpose of this e-newsletter is to provide news updates, events and informational resources on hot topics in local public health and CALPHO. Any staff person of a CALPHO member agency is welcome to join our email list to receive this e-newsletter. If you have a colleague interested in receiving this e-newsletter, please forward this message to them. Copyright © Colorado Association of Local Public Health Officials 2017, All rights reserved.   Our mailing address is: 1385 S. Colorado Blvd., Bldg. A, Suite 622 Denver, Colorado 80222

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