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Nov 2023: From the Editor

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This entry is part 1 of 12 in the series Nov 2023

Editor-in-chief Lloyd F. Novick highlights new articles in the Nov/Dec 2023 issue of the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice.

The Nov issue of the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice includes an array of important articles, beginning with a commentary by Monica Bharel and John Auerbach that looks at “Using Public Health Tools to Alleviate Homeless Encampments.” Exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the ongoing opioid epidemic, the lack of affordable housing stock, and the widening inequities across the nation, this new crisis has left mayors and other city officials grappling for options to mitigate this issue, which the authors propose may be addressed using 6 distinct public health components. A related article by Michael Bien and colleagues highlights the work of the Centers of Excellence in Public Health and Homelessness program, which has identified common challenges facing health departments and uncovered effective strategies and best practices to strengthen public health capacity to address infectious diseases among people who experience homelessness.

Two articles in this issue focus on public health surveillance. In “Ohio Coronavirus Wastewater Monitoring Network: Implementation of Statewide Monitoring for Protecting Public Health,” Zuzana Bohrerova and colleagues describe how the state of Ohio rapidly developed statewide wastewater monitoring for novel pathogens during the COVID-19 pandemic as well as efforts to interpret and apply the monitoring results. Building a statewide monitoring network in a short time frame is an enormous challenge that requires considerable collaboration, resources, and time. Maintaining the established networks will be beneficial for future disease outbreaks. In the second article, Milagros Neyra and coauthors assessed the accuracy, timeliness, and completeness of the NYS Wastewater Surveillance Network during the first year of operations during COVID. Using standard indicators to evaluate infectious disease surveillance systems, they observed 96.5% sensitivity of wastewater to identify substantial/high COVID-19 transmission and 99% specificity to identify low COVID-19 transmission. In total, 80% of results were reported within 1 day of sample collection and were published on the public dashboard within 2 days of sample collection. Among participating wastewater treatment plants, 32.5% provided weekly samples with zero missing data, 31% missed 1 or 2 weeks, and 36.5% missed 3 or more weeks.

Other important articles in this issue include “Understanding Factors Influencing Decision Making by State Health Officials in a Public Health Emergency,” by Raphael M. Barishansky and Michael Fraser; “Tying Overdose Data to Action: North Carolina’s Opioid and Substance Use Action Plan Data Dashboard,” by Michael Dolan Fliss and colleagues; “Scalable Strategies to Increase Efficiency and Augment Public Health Activities During Epidemic Peaks” by Dana K. Pasquale, et al; and “Understanding Over-immunization in North Dakota’s Adult Population” by Allison Dykstra and colleagues, among many others.

Columns in this issue include “Tools for Approaching Policy With Equity in Mind” by Keshia Pollack Porter, et al; “The Role of State and Territorial Health Agencies in Supporting and Hiring Community Health Workers” by Shelby Rowell and Anna Bartels; “Achieving Sustainable Health Equity Locally After the COVID-19 Emergency Response” by Hassanatu Blake, et al; and “Strengthening Advocacy Skills for Public Health Leaders” by Shelley A. Hearne and colleagues.

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About the Author

Lloyd F. Novick
Lloyd F. Novick, MD, MPH, is Professor Emeritus of the Department of Public Health at the Brody School of Medicine, East Carolina University. Previously, he was chair of this Department. He has served as the Commissioner of Health and Secretary for Human Services of Vermont, Director of Health Services for Arizona, and Director of the Office of Public Health for New York State. Previous academic positions include Professor and Director of the Preventive Medicine Program for SUNY Upstate Medical University, Professor and Chair of Epidemiology at the University of Albany School of Public Health, and Clinical Professor and Director of the Teaching Program in Epidemiology and Public Health at the University of Vermont, College of Medicine. He is the Founding Editor and Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice. He is also editor of five books, including Public Health Administration: Principles for Population-Based Management; Public Health Issues in Disaster Preparedness; Community-Based Prevention Programs that Work; Public Health Leaders Tell Their Stories; and Health Problems in the Prison Setting. He is past president of the Association of Teachers of Prevention and Research (APTR) and the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO). He has received a number of national awards, including Special Recognition Award, American College of Preventive Medicine (2005); Duncan Clark Award, Association of Teachers of Preventive Medicine (2003); Yale University Distinguished Service Award (2003); Excellence in Health Administration, American Public Health Association (2001); and the Arthur T. McCormack Award, Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (1992). He is a graduate of Colgate University (BA), New York University (MD), and Yale University (MPH).

Nov 2023

What Goes into Decision Making by State Health Officials in a Public Health Emergency
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