"Now, more than ever, broadband Internet access (BIA) must be recognized as a social determinant of health. Disparities in access should be treated as a public health issue because they affect the health of people and communities where they live, learn, work and play. The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrates that lack of BIA influences each of the six social determinant of health domains defined by the American Medical Association. It also affects an additional domain, which is particularly...

This is a well cited article (author Yong has been on national news shows) detailing what has gone wrong: ""almost everything that went wrong with America’s response to the pandemic was predictable and preventable. A sluggish response by a government denuded of expertise allowed the coronavirus to gain a foothold. Chronic underfunding of public health neutered the nation’s ability to prevent the pathogen’s spread. A bloated, inefficient health-care system left hospitals ill-prepared for the...

By: Chapel Taylor-Olsen, BA, Health & Wellness Coordinator & Dr. Ashley Yaugher, Health & Wellness Faculty, HEART Initiative; Utah State University Extension The opioid crisis has been claiming thousands of American lives per year for decades. Now, this healthcare crisis is colliding with a new threat sweeping the world: the novel coronavirus, COVID-19. This article reviews the mental health impacts of COVID-19 on Americans; unique impacts on people with opioid use disorder...

To answer your first question, ELI5 is text lingo for 'explain like I'm five' - a way to break down often complex topics into digestible bits. This post will introduce the Social Determinants of Health and help to ELI5 the topic.

I am happy to share the Request for Applications (RFA) for seven additional land grant institutions to become a part of the Well Connected Communities Initiative. National 4-H Council through the generous support of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation seeks to showcase land grant universities that are modeling how Cooperative Extension is already working in new ways to implement the five high-level recommendations included in Cooperative Extension’s National Framework for Health Equity and...

Has your land grant institution implemented an innovation that has accelerated Cooperative Extension’s work to advance health and well being? If so, we want to help you tell that story of innovation and the difference it is making in your state. The Well Connected Communities Initiative, administered through National 4-H Council with the generous support of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, will provide seven land grant universities with $25,000 each to perform a case study of a successful...

Nearly 100 individuals participated in a virtual listening session held recently to gather advance input into the upcoming White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health to be held this September. The listening session was hosted by the Extension Committee on Organization and Policy and the Board on Human Sciences of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) with support of the Extension Foundation. The majority of the participants were state-level coordinators of...

The American Hospital Association Center for Health Innovation provides emergency response and disaster preparedness resources that are designed to strengthen and reimagine the nation's emergency management system. More specifically, the CLEAR Field Guide for Emergency Preparedness is designed to advance our nation’s emergency management system by breaking down knowledge silos, bolstering the public health infrastructure, diversifying health care integration and more deeply integrating...

Cooperative Extension is uniquely positioned to be a key leader in advancing community-based initiatives aimed at tackling health inequities in underserved communities. In 2021, the Extension Committee on Operations and Policy (ECOP) adopted Cooperative Extension’s National Framework for Health Equity & Well-being (Framework) that articulates a vision for this work. Advancing health equity as a core system value across the Extension system is the first of five key recommendations. A case...