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Healthy Generations eNewsletter

January 2024

Healthy GenerationseNewsletterJanuary 2024

This eNewsletter is brought to you by the

Center for Leadership Education in Maternal and Child Public Health.

Center Announcements

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New Policy Brief: State Laws on Substance Use Treatment for Incarcerated Pregnant and Postpartum People

A recent review reveals that 43 states have laws related to pregnant or postpartum incarcerated individuals, but only seven address screening or treatment for substance use disorder (SUD): Texas, California, Minnesota, Maryland, New Jersey, Missouri, and Massachusetts. Authors of this policy brief recommend sentencing alternatives, SUD screening and treatment in correctional facilities, humane and trauma-informed care, and evidence-based treatment. Policy change that recognizes SUD as a serious medical need will ensure prisons and jails provide appropriate care for incarcerated pregnant and postpartum individuals struggling with SUD.
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Student Spotlight: How did Annie Olson’s Interests in Mental Health and Adolescents Inspire Her Desire for Health Equity?

#UMNMCH student Annie Olson (MPH 2024) wrote this reflection on how her deployment with the Minnesota Department of Health allowed her to analyze and disseminate information about the health of Minnesota adolescents, as well as contributed to her understanding of mental health equity. As a part of her deployment, Annie assisted with Title V Block Grant annual reporting and prepared data briefs about adolescent mental health from the Minnesota Student Survey. Annie shared that “this deployment has taught me that recognizing the inequities faced by Minnesota youth and marginalized populations is the first step in addressing the barriers they face to achieving mental well-being.”
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Student Spotlight: How did Laurel Cederberg Support an Active Community Coalition Focused on the Mitigation of Inequities in Vision Health in Native American Children and Youth in Minnesota?

#UMNMCH student Dr. Laurel Cederberg (MPH 2024) wrote this reflection detailing her involvement with the Minnesota Vision Health Task Force. The Task Force is dedicated to addressing vision health equity, particularly through their "Little Eyes, Big Eyes" project for Native American children and families in Minnesota. Drawing from her hands-on experience, this endeavor has subsequently inspired her to embark on her own research project, focusing on pediatric vision screening as well as the vision health of children and teens who self-identify as Native American within the HealthPartners care system in Minnesota. Laurel said that her time with the Task Force allowed her to “experience how committed government, policy, health, education, and community members came together to work with Native American stakeholders to improve vision in kids.”

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MCH Leads Blog: From Disparities to Equity in Birth–Transformative Initiatives and Ongoing Commitments for Full Health Potential

Nora Lopez, an MCH Leadership Education and Advancement in Undergraduate Pathways (LEAP) Training Program student at the University of California, Berkeley, is the January author for the Health Equity Edition of MCH Leads. In her blog entry, Nora reflects on her experiences with Birth By Us and California Preterm Birth Initiative, applying MCH Competencies 5 (Communication) and 7 (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility). “The ongoing commitment to health equity is a fundamental necessity for the well-being of all individuals. Initiatives can positively impact communities when guided by principles of communication, diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility.”

Center Events

The Center is proud to co-sponsor the following events:

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Beyond Walls–Mass Incarceration and Public Health

January 25, 2024 | 4:30 PM CDT (Registration and Dinner), 5:30 PM - 8:00 PM CDT (Event) | Coffman Theater

Join the MCH Student Interest Group, the Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, and Dr. Jason Sole (event facilitator) for a peer-developed collaborative event. There will be a screening of a collective of five short documentaries produced by Beyond Walls, which defines and amplifies the historical and current prison industrial complex (PIC) in the US and addresses the impacts of mass incarceration on public health. A discussion and panel will follow the screening and presentation.
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Bright Spots Mini Lab: Template Analysis as a Method for Rapid Qualitative Inquiry in Public Health Research (Part 2)

Thursday, February 8, 2024 | 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM CDT

Template analysis is a structured approach in which researchers identify major domains covered in a data collection and provide summaries of participant responses for each domain, then place each summary in a matrix to identify recurring themes under each domain. In this hands-on, follow-up workshop to Template Analysis as a Method for Rapid Qualitative Inquiry in Public Health Research (Part 1), participants will learn how to describe the steps of template analysis, conduct a template analysis, make actionable recommendations, and propose how to use template analysis in one’s own research program.

Research

Research on Promising Strategies for Trauma-Responsive, Affirming Care | Activate

This brief summarizes the available literature on strategies for trauma-responsive affirming care in a way that is relevant for administrators, managers, and professionals whose work centers on youth with experience in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems, youth experiencing homelessness, and opportunity youth. The intent for these strategies indicated is to be relevant in both medical settings and youth-supporting organizations. In this brief, the authors define “trauma-responsive affirming care” as a strengths-based approach that responds to how traumatic experiences intersect with gender identity and sexual orientation—as well as with other identities such as racial/ethnic identity, socioeconomic status, and immigration status—to impact a person’s needs.

Events

Maternal and Infant Health SUD/OUD Perinatal Online Conference

January 17-18, 2024 | 9:00 AM - 3:00 PM CDT | Virtual

In America, Black women are 3-4 times more likely to experience a pregnancy-related death than white women. The US has the highest maternal and infant mortality rate among comparable countries. With support from the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS), Wayside Recovery Center is hosting a free public education Project ECHO series that focuses on fostering collaboration between patients, community, and health practitioners to deliver high-quality care to Black mothers, infants, and their families.

-Register

Special Joint Meeting of the Health Equity Committee and Policy & Advocacy Committee

January 18, 2024 | 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM CDT | Virtual

Racism has always been a public health crisis and requires structural and preventative solutions. Recognizing the political and policy determinants of health, our strategies must embed racial and health equity (RHE) into policymaking and governance, itself. Join MPHA for a discussion about why and how a racial equity impact note could be established in Minnesota.

-Register

What’s Tried and True; What’s New? Children and Adolescents

January 19, 2024 | 7:30 AM - 9:30 AM CDT | New Brighton Community Center

The Minnesota Public Health Association (MPHA) is hosting a Public Health Matters Policy Forum Series that is all about changing views in public health and health care. The focus of this forum is on Children and adolescents. Questions such as changing views about immunizations, early socialization and development, the impact of video gaming and social media on the development of sound mental health, and more will be explored in this forum.

-Register

Building Cultural Competency for Understanding and Treating Mental Health for the Hmong in America

February 2, 2024 | 9:00 AM - 2:00 PM CDT | $60 | Virtual

The Hmong are a growing population in the US, with approximately 90,000 living in Minnesota. Most have immigrated since the mid-1970s from Southeast Asia to escape the effects of the Vietnam War. Historically, the Hmong people struggle with intergenerational trauma, poverty, and persecution. This workshop, hosted by the Minnesota Association for Children’s Mental Health (MACMH), is a comprehensive, in-depth assessment of the Hmong American community, their uniqueness as a culture, their societal struggles, and their mental health issues. This course will invite participants to become multilingual in their ability to treat patients, become more self-aware of their own cultural biases along with the biases of others, advocate for cultural humility, recognize the value in each culture’s strengths, as well as utilize those strengths through appropriate opportunities to endorse collaboration across all races, ethnicities, and nationalities.

-Register

Strategies to Retain Volunteers in Youth-Serving Organizations

February 7, 2024 | 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM CDT | Virtual

Many youth-serving organizations engage volunteers to deliver youth programming. As organizations grow in scale and complexity, engagement of new volunteers and retention of quality volunteers emerge as key priorities. Join to learn more about promoting volunteer retention and creating organizational stability through strengthening volunteer management practice in this webinar hosted by University of Minnesota Extension.

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Growing the Strengths of Youth: A Trauma-Sensitive Strength-Based Approach to Youth Development

February 9, 2024 | 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM CDT | $30 | Virtual

Today’s youth report increasing levels of stress, anxiety, and depression, leading to a crisis in well-being. Youth need opportunities to identify and develop their strengths and fill their toolboxes with skills to handle life stressors. Research has indicated that youth who can name their strengths and values and affirm their positive characteristics have reduced stress levels and an increased positive outlook on life. They can aspire to growth and well-being with positive experiences to develop these skills for resilience. In this session, hosted by MACMH, adults working with youth will learn how stress affects learning and the importance of connecting with students using positive characteristics.

-Register

71st Society for Reproductive Investigation (SRI) Annual Scientific Meeting: Supporting Healthy Lifecourse Trajectories

March 12-16, 2024 | Prices varied | Vancouver, Canada

SRI was established in 1953 by a group of investigators studying hypertensive disorders of pregnancy. While this topic is still being studied by their investigators, today SRI is an international society with over 900 members representing 35 countries, who conduct basic, translational, and clinical investigations in the reproductive sciences and women’s health. Areas of focus include obstetrics, perinatology, reproductive genetics, gynecology and gynecologic oncology, endocrinology, reproductive physiology, biochemistry, pharmacology, immunology, epidemiology, reproductive infectious disease, and reproductive stem cell and developmental biology, among others. The SRI Annual Meeting has been established as the place where translational research is integrated with basic science to create robust and interesting programs from year to year. The SRI program will feature career development workshops, career development sessions, and 4 all-day satellite meetings. Registration will be open until February 20, 2024.

-Register

Resources

Recording: Structural Racism and Public Health - How to Talk to Policymakers and Community Members

Cities are vibrant hubs of cultural and ethnic diversity, economic opportunities, and civic engagement. Yet these communities also endure complex health equity challenges. Many barriers to good health are rooted in structural racism — an unjust system of laws, procedures, and beliefs that cement racial and ethnic inequity. A critical step in addressing these inequities will be learning how to communicate effectively about them with community members and policymakers.

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Video: The Role of Public Health Professionals to Respond to and Prevent Wars

Explore the often-overlooked connection between war and public health in this insightful podcast from the American Public Health Association (APHA) 2023 Annual Meeting and Expo. Dr. Barry S. Levy and Dr. Bob Gould discuss the indirect effects of war on health, including chronic disease management, healthcare system breakdowns, and the public health challenges of migration and displacement. They also highlight the role of public health professionals in conflict scenarios and the importance of upholding humanitarian values in healthcare.

Podcast: A Guide through the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) and the Minnesota Indian Family Preservation Act (MIFPA)

The Minnesota Department of Human Services American Indian Well-Being Unit (formerly known as ICWA Unit), in partnership with the Center for Advanced Studies in Child Welfare (CASCW), created a podcast series to help guide child welfare professionals through the six major provisions of the ICWA and the MIFPA. Team members guide learners through each of these provisions providing an overview of legal definitions, best practices, frequently asked questions, and stories.

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Video: Exploring All Options - Pregnancy Counseling Without Bias Video Series

Options counseling is a Title X expectation and a crucial provision of high-quality family planning services. The video series demonstrates options counseling with four family planning clients, per the 2021 Final Rule and the subsequent Title X 2022 Handbook. Watch the video series in English or Spanish.

Call for…

  • Proposals: 2024 MPHA Annual Conference | Due January 19, 2024 | Apply
  • Abstracts: 2024 Black Maternal Health Conference and Training Institute | Due February 2, 2024 | Apply
  • Abstracts: APHA Annual Meeting and Expo - Rebuilding Trust in Public Health and Science | Due: March 29, 2024 | Apply

You received this message because you have subscribed to the Healthy Generations listserv. This newsletter is produced monthly by the Center for Leadership Education in Maternal and Child Public Health at the University of Minnesota. Email mch@umn.edu to have your event, resource, or publication included in our eNewsletter.


Copyright © 2023 The Center for Leadership Education in Maternal & Child Public Health - University of Minnesota. All rights reserved.

The Center for Leadership Education
in Maternal & Child Public Health

The Center is supported by HHS HRSA (grant # T76MC00005). https://mch.umn.edu