CEO Message – April 2021

During the past 30 years, NACDD has become a recognized national leader in improving health and health equity at the state level. We succeed through a collaborative approach that connects state, tribal, and territorial health officials with the CDC and other traditional and nontraditional partners. Our success also stems from our efficient and effective fiscal stewardship –  approximately 86% of our funding goes directly into our programs.
 
We offer our expertise not only in program implementation, but also in organizational management to our Members. NACDD provides a variety of services and technical support for:

• strategy formulation
• strategic management
• communications strategy and dissemination
• implementation design
• workforce and capacity development
• program evaluation
• state academies
• health systems transformation and intervention dissemination
• partnership and collaboration
• heath equity training
• evidence-based intervention delivery,
• discerning and responding to the emerging health debt, and
• addressing the chronic disease-related needs of those experiencing “long haul” COVID.

You can learn more about our basic services in the Services section of our website. 

We also offer specific support in several program areas, including recent national and state-level work on chronic disease prevention in the context of COVID-19. (We are happy to provide more information on our specific technical support opportunities for COVID-19 upon request.)

Our programmatic work includes more than 35 CDC-funded projects under 5 major cooperative agreements, with the largest bodies of work in cancer, heart disease and stroke prevention, diabetes, and workforce development.

You can learn more about some of the innovative work we are doing by watching presentations from our recent annual Program Success Showcase, including our panel discussions:

• “How State Health Departments Can Help Build Trust in Public Health and Promote Health Equity during COVID and Beyond” with Susan Winckler (moderator), Dr. Karen Hacker, Dr. Susan Kansagra, and Dr. Avenel Joseph.
• “Mental Health and Combating Burnout for Public Health Staff during COVID and other National Emergencies” with Dr. Caroline Clauss-Ehlers (Moderator), Dr. Benjamin Miller, Linda Scarpetta, and Denise Octavia Smith.

We are proud of the tools and programs we have created to help people live healthier lives today and when the pandemic is over.
 
If you would like to discuss how NACDD can help your state, please contact myself, or Marti Macchi, MEd, MPH, Senior Director of Programs.
 
P.S. Check out our latest General Member Webinar, “Adoption of a Public Health Approach for Preventing Excessive Alcohol Use and Associated Short-term Outcomes and Chronic Conditions,” and our special webinar, “The Color of Law Presentation and Panel Discussion” with Author Richard Rothstein.

In Good Health and Gratitude,
John W. Robitscher, MPH
Chief Executive Officer

Read more from the April 2021 issue of Impact Brief below.

• May is Lupus Awareness Month
  April 2021 NACDD is collaborating with the American College of Rheumatology (ACR), the Lupus Foundation of America/Georgia Chapter, the Big Bend Rural Health Network and the University of Alabama to implement a Lupus School Health Training and Education Program (Training Program). According to the American College of Rheumatology, about 20% of people with lupus developed… Read more: May is Lupus Awareness Month
• Strategic Partners that Reach Physicians
  April 2021 Public health partnerships continue to fuel NACDD’s innovation in chronic disease prevention and control. NACDD has recently partnered with four dynamic organizations in the area of CME and general health education to the physician community: Healio (Healio.com), Docola (Doco.la), Medscape (Medscape.com), and the venerable New England Journal of Medicine (nejm.com). All offer significant… Read more: Strategic Partners that Reach Physicians
• Serving You in Our New Public Health Era
  CEO Message – April 2021 During the past 30 years, NACDD has become a recognized national leader in improving health and health equity at the state level. We succeed through a collaborative approach that connects state, tribal, and territorial health officials with the CDC and other traditional and nontraditional partners. Our success also stems from… Read more: Serving You in Our New Public Health Era