covid19storytelling.aspph.orgASPPH COVID-19 Storytelling Project

Back to ASPPH.org : How Schools and Programs Made an Impact During the Pandemic Explore an array of compelling stories of how academic public health institutionsall ASPPH members worked within their universities, communities, regions and states to keep the public safe during the COVID-19 pandemic. Explore Stories Read the Report Explore public health stories The pandemic, in all its tragic dimensions, has presented the kinds of challenges those of us who work in the public health field — academics as well as practitioners — have dedicated our lives to. Around the world, countless stories have arisen from this calamity. Here, we tell the pandemic story as we know it. It gives an account of how the 139 member schools and programs of the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health (ASPPH), rose to answer the challenge of COVID-19. Scroll to Explore 1 Generating the evidence and the research needed to mobilize our schools and programs on COVID-19 In early 2020, when the COVID-19 wave slowly rose and then crested as a global pandemic, many governments and institutions struggled to keep up with rapidly changing events. As an association whose mission includes helping others to understand and respond to events like these, ASPPH moved quickly. Our schools and programs mobilized their considerable expertise and resources to start answering the many pressing questions that needed answering. See Full Section 2 Mobilizing Academic Public Health to Make an Impact in the Community As ASPPH members around the country have confirmed, the national pandemic response was actually a varied patchwork of responses — some robust, some weaker — depending on pre-existing preparations and protocols and the strength of public health partnerships in states, regions, cities, tribal communities and other localities. See Full Section 3 Using our voice to advocate and champion truth and justice ASPPH has long been proud of its role as a leading voice — not just for our members in academic public health — but as an advocate for the health of the public. Dean Wayne Giles of the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health speaks for many of his colleagues when he said: It became clear to us as a school that in a moment of global crisis, this was public health’s moment to lead and shape a response that recognized social, economic and political determinants of health.” See Full Section 4 Strengthening the workforce through education and training ASPPH members took their public-facing role seriously. Across the country they were developing training materials for the workforce, educating and training students and health care workers. They were speaking to the public on social media, educating them in real time as the alarming story of COVID-19 kept shifting and evolving. ASPPH members also used their social media platforms creatively to inform the public about COVID-19, ways to prevent its spread and to promote the need to get vaccinated. See Full Section 5 Supporting the community through academic work and on-the-ground public service The pandemic has been notable for how, more than before, it has brought the world of academic public health outside of the university — literally out into the community, not only with contact tracing and conducting surveys but also delivering food, assisting in hospitals and establishing programs for vulnerable populations. See Full Section 6 Building and maintaining effective partnerships at the local, state and global levels From the onset of the pandemic, it was clear that ASPPH-member schools and programs would not succeed by working in isolation — that the only way to confront a national and global emergency was to team up with national and global partners. See Full Section 7 Sharing lessons learned from the pandemic and recommendations for a path forward An urgent question arises as we look back on the last three challenging years: Where do we go from here, as national and global leaders in academic public health and as members of the public health community? What lessons have we learned? What successes should we appreciate and replicate — and are there any habits or practices that should be un-learned? See Full Section Share on Social Explore Stories ID Image Title Excerpt Content Summary Institution Shortname Location Institution Topic Permalink 510 Arcadia University College of Health Sciences MPH Program The pandemic was felt similarly on Arcadia University ’s campus as it was worldwide – from cautious optimism at the beginning of the pandemic, to realizing the need for a significant shift in priorities. Dr. Suzanne Redington, assistant professor, who provided vital support to Department Chair Dr. Margaret Longacre, and the broader university response, shares: Once we all moved past the realization that COVID was happening, there was a continued hope that it would be temporary and be over in a few months at most. The university’s global presence required their swift attention to the rapidly unfolding public health concern in the early months of 2020. Our efforts for the remainder of that semester centered around two main things: (1) supporting our students and (2) supporting each other. We found it important to talk to each other and assist each other as we learned how to teach and work from home during a pandemic, often while having increased caregiving responsibilities or other strains. It was a daunting task for all involved and not without its challenges.” Arcadia’s programs met logistical challenges head on and collaborated to overcome them. We realized there was no perfect decision in this scenario,” Longacre says. The programs within our College of Health Sciences worked collaboratively to know what each program was doing over the summer of 2020 in response, including a guiding document that was regularly updated. This allowed for learning from each other during an experience that was new to all of us.” Among the academic challenges was the issue of burnout. Redington explains, The burnout experienced by our students and employees was, and is, incredibly challenging to address. This ebbs and flows, and the experience is different for everyone. Having to constantly adapt and make decisions based on ever-changing information due to the progressing pandemic takes its toll. Mental health resources have been made available to students and employees. We have talked to each other, shared resources, provided opportunities for social engagement (virtual and in-person) and established a culture that values mental health care. But this is the long haul, and we still experience times of burnout. Thus, we consistently go back to some of those previous approaches that have worked. We also continue to learn to prioritize our efforts and ask for help from others.” One of the biggest lessons we learned was the importance of adaptability and flexibility. COVID pushed all of us to adapt in ways we never expected. Sometimes this pushed us to accomplish things sooner than we intended, like integrating more variety into how we engage students in our classroom. Sometimes this required us to accomplish tasks differently, like participating in Zoom meetings or teaching while at home with children in quarantine or learning from home themselves,” Longacre says. Redington summarizes that Arcadia decided early in the pandemic that they would prioritize the health and safety of the university’s global community. This held true even if an action or response was not the ideal business decision. That doesn’t mean that the university paid no mind to the financial aspects of its response to COVID. They made a conscious effort to put their community’s well-being first and had confidence that they had the wherewithal to accomplish this while addressing any potential financial impact. This created a culture of valuing data and other scientific evidence in the decision-making process. Expectedly, there was never a time when everyone at...