The American Health Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

The American Health Podcast is back! Join hosts Caitlin Hoffman and Su Tellakat as they explore the impact of the Bloomberg American Health Initiative community, with a focus on adolescent health this season. They will cover topics including the importance of native american food in schools, how to better serve young people who are not in school and are not working, and how to help young people who use drugs. Thanks for listening!

On February 17, the American Public Health Association and the Bloomberg American Health Initiative released a federal policy agenda to address the needs of the more than 4 million young people ages 16 to 24 who are not enrolled in school or in the labor market. In this episode, Andrea McDaniels speaks to two of the people who put this agenda together: Professor Tamar Mendelson, director of the Center for Adolescent Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and C. Pluff, program manager at the American Public Health Association.  

To learn more about the federal policy agenda, visit opportunityyouthagenda.org.  

Della Wright, Evaluator and Assistant Director of the Childhood Wellbeing Division at the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice, is joined by Kathy Egland from EEECHO (Education, Economic, Environment, Climate and Health Organization), a CBO in Gulfport, Mississippi. 

In this episode, Della and Kathy discuss how their collaboration impacted the translation of COVID-19 data in Mississippi communities that have been historically impacted by air pollution and how they used that data to leverage resources for the community.  

Learn more about the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice visit, https://www.dscej.org

To learn more about the Bloomberg American Health Initiative and the Bloomberg Fellows Program, visit https://americanhealth.jhu.edu/.

Janice is the Director of Programs and Clinical Services at House of Ruth Maryland where they work towards ending violence against women and their children by confronting the attitudes, behaviors and systems that perpetuate the violence. 

In this episode, we will hear about what the House of Ruth Maryland is doing to end intimate partner violence and all of the services that they provide to help victims of intimate partner violence in Maryland.

Learn more about House of Ruth Maryland, visit: https://hruth.org

To learn more about the Bloomberg American Health Initiative and the Bloomberg Fellows Program, visit https://americanhealth.jhu.edu/.

Jillian Tse is a program coordinator at the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank. In this episode, you will learn about the food bank, its mission, and the effects of the pandemic on their grocery delivery program.

Learn more about the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank;  https://www.sfmfoodbank.org 

To learn more about the Bloomberg American Health Initiative and the Bloomberg Fellows Program, visit https://americanhealth.jhu.edu/.

JR Westberg is a researcher for the Hennepin Healthcare Research Institute at the Hennepin County Medical Center in Minnesota. Hennepin County Medical Center is one of the oldest non-profit hospitals in Minnesota. 

In this episode, we hear more about JR’s research on opioid use after trauma and the role of research on pain medication. 

Learn more about Hennepin Healthcare Research Institute: https://www.hhrinstitute.org/ 

To learn more about the Bloomberg American Health Initiative and the Bloomberg Fellows Program, visit https://americanhealth.jhu.edu/.

Amelia Hulbert is a Healthy Eating, Active Living (HEAL) Specialist with the Boulder County Public Health Department. She is joined by her colleagues Jill Strange, Healthy Food Access Coordinator with the Boulder County Public Health Department,  Mickey Davis, Food Access Specialist with Boulder County Farmers Markets, and Gaby Solano, a Promotora with El Centro Amistad. 

In this episode, you will learn more about the City of Boulder’s Sugar Sweetened Beverage Product Distribution Tax and how grant recipients have used these funds specifically for Health Equity. 

Learn more: 

• Boulder County Public Health Department
• Boulder County Farmers Markets
• El Centro Amistad 

To learn more about the Bloomberg American Health Initiative and the Bloomberg Fellows Program, visit https://americanhealth.jhu.edu/.

Paige Volpenhein is the Community Impact Manager at the Star of the Sea (SOS) Foundation where she works on resolving food insecurity in Key West, FL.  In this episode, Paige is joined by her colleague Tom Callahan, Executive Director of the SOS Foundation. Paige and Tom talks about the SOS food pantry and how they are navigating food insecurity during a global pandemic.

Learn more about the Star of the Sea Foundation: https://sosfoundation.org 

To learn more about the Bloomberg American Health Initiative and the Bloomberg Fellows Program, visit https://americanhealth.jhu.edu/.

Katherine Thomsen serves as a Clinical Dietician with Avera Queen of Peace Hospital in Mitchell, South Dakota where she works with both inpatient care and outpatient services. 

In this episode, Katherine talks about how dietitians work to improve the health of their communities and how she came to be a Bloomberg Fellow. 

Learn more about the Bloomberg American Health Initiative and the Bloomberg Fellows Program:  https://americanhealth.jhu.edu/. 

Kat Humphries serves as the Program Director for the Harm Reduction Action Center (HRAC) in Denver, CO.  The organization's mission is to educate, empower, and advocate for the health and dignity of Denver's injection drug users, in accordance with harm reduction principles.  

In this episode, Kat is joined by her colleague Lisa Raville, HRAC Executive Director. Kat and Lisa share more on their work in harm reduction and the importance of legislation to further HRAC's mission.

Learn more about Harm Reduction Action Center: https://harmreductionactioncenter.org/. 

To learn more about the Bloomberg American Health Initiative and the Bloomberg Fellows Program, visit https://americanhealth.jhu.edu/.