MPH Newsletter, Vol. 4
We use data to improve the health of communities through community health needs assessments and implementation strategies…
It’s April. Things are heating up outside, and for the Moxley Public Health team…
We’ve got A LOT on the go this month and we aren’t planning on slowing down anytime soon! We ran our first successful Lunch & Learn event in March, and are so excited to be planning a second event (more on that below).
Our first cohort of the Women Supporting Women Internship Program is drawing to a close, and we have welcomed three additional women to our team for the second cohort.
We are looking forward to attending several conferences this Spring, and continuing to develop professionally as a team.
April is National Autism Acceptance Month. Throughout this month’s newsletter, we’ll share resources, research, and topics we are thinking about to better serve neurodivergent folks in our communities!
As always, our focus is to collect and transform data into actionable results. Reach out to us anytime to learn more about community health needs assessments and CHIPs/implementation strategies! Set up a FREE discovery call with us here.
Stay healthy,
coming up…
Thank you so much to those of you who joined us for our first Lunch and Learn on March 29, 2023! We had so much fun connecting with you and hearing your ideas about health equity.
Our team is busy preparing for our next event about data visualization on May 3, 2023. Our team is continuously working to improve how we communicate data. We can’t wait to share some of our strategies with you, and give you some tools YOU can use right away for your reports. Follow our socials for registration details…
in the news…
Our Women Supporting Women Internship Program has started its newest initiative… Social Media Takeovers!
Once a week our interns will share content on their learning and experiences throughout the program. The first post detailed their work around collecting secondary health data for a community in the Blue Mountains, Jamaica. This is part of ongoing voluntary work at MPH. Click the button above to learn more!
tips & tricks of the month
Wondering how to make your reports, written materials, and presentations more accessible to community members with disabilities?
Check out this resource on Making Accessible Content from Microsoft 365. One of the key reasons that we use Microsoft suite products at Moxley Public Health is for their awesome accessibility tools! Click the link to access step-by-step guides for ensuring your content is written accessibility and set up to be read by screen readers and other assistive technology.
did you know?
According to the Lurie Center for Autism at Massachusetts General Hospital …
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is one of the fastest-growing developmental disorders in the United States. ASD is more common than childhood cancer, diabetes, and AIDS combined.
Click the link to learn the other 29 of 30 Facts to Know about Autism.
public health need spotlight
Many of our clients choose to focus on the health need of transportation. To demonstrate the “health need of transportation”, let’s look at an example…
Transportation has a major influence on health (for example, attending routine and urgent appointments, as well as running essential errands that support daily life). This means that without transportation, health and well-being will suffer. Rural communities are a subpopulation at risk of experiencing inequity - they have further to travel and more barriers to personal transport.
Telehealth can offer a solution for many when transportation poses a challenge. The systematic review Telehealth and Autism Prior to and in the Age of COVID-19: A Systematic and Critical Review of the Last Decade, digs deep into the benefits of telehealth for community members with autism. Telehealth is an exciting solution to the health challenge of transportation and offers wide-reaching benefits to our communities! Of course, this relies on adequate phone and internet access, another important health need…
public health organization spotlight
This month we are placing a spotlight on the Autism Society, a nationally accredited charity with the vision to “create connections, and empower everyone in the Autism community with the resources needed to live fully”.
This organization uses a multi-faceted approach to achieve their vision through public policy, employment, education, and home and community-based services for neurodivergent folks. This grass roots organization uses evidence to work towards achieving health equity… Talk about role models for putting the “community” back into community health!
mph favorites to share with you…
In honor of National Autism Acceptance Month, Stephanie would like to share the picture book “All Cats Have Asperger Syndrome” by Kathy Hoopmann. A playful story that draws parallels between sensitivities of cats and community members with autism, this book has been an incredibly helpful resource for her daughter.
As a young girl on the spectrum, her daughter was able to share this book with her class and foster positivity, understanding, and connection with her classmates!
For this month’s recommendation, Allie would like to draw attention to the importance of language when discussing autism and advocating for the rights of the neurodivergent community. Individuals with autism have led a movement to shift “National Autism Awareness Month” to “National Autism Acceptance Month”.
Many people with autism have voiced desire for acceptance in our community, and do not perceive their autism as a disorder that individuals need to be made “aware” of. Check out the following articles on this topic:
Forbes - Autism Acceptance Not Awareness: A Perspective Shift Is Needed
USA Today - Autism Acceptance Month is underway. Here's why the name is important
We Are Teachers - Why April Is Autism Acceptance Month, Not Autism Awareness Month
Elissa whole-heartedly recommends this book, which was gifted to her for International Women’s Day!
Invisible Women by Caroline Criado Perez shines light on the gender inequities that exist in the world of research and data (no shocker that there is data bias in favor of the male gender!). This is an essential read for all public health professionals to inform ourselves on the ways we collect, store, and communicate data.
what our team is thinking about this month…
Reflect and share your thoughts with us on our social media platforms below - we would love to hear from you!