Public Health

Combating Abortion Misinformation in the Post-Roe Environment

COMMENTARY | False information could get worse amid rapidly changing laws around abortion access. But states, employers and others have ways to quash these efforts.

  • By Julia Rollison

How Cities Can Respond to Extreme Heat

A new report offers a practical framework to help communities ensure urban heat resilience planning efforts are as effective and equitable as possible.

  • By Kyle Mittan, Futurity

Satellites Zoom in on Hottest Neighborhoods to Help Combat Urban Heat Island Effect

Satellite and population data can help cities create detailed maps so they can prepare for and respond to risks associated with extreme heat, a top weather-related killer.

  • By Daniel P. Johnson, The Conversation

Why I Am On a Mission to Address My City's Mental Health Crisis

COMMENTARY | The federal government is failing Americans by not offering sufficient mental health resources. As mayor of Reno, Nevada, it's my job to do something. And it's personal.

  • By Hillary Schieve

The 'Impossible' Federal Standard States Can't Meet as They Work to Assist Low-Income Families

Critics say a longstanding performance metric for work participation that is part of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program is faulty and should be reformed.

  • By Katherine Barrett & Richard Greene

For Mental Crises, Send a Pro Not the Police

Evidence from a pilot program in Denver suggests that providing mental health support for nonviolent emergencies can help reduce crime and save money.

  • By Krysten Crawford, Futurity

New Program to Bolster the Battered Public Health Workforce

Two agencies are teaming up to establish a program to recruit and cultivate public health officials. “We saw throughout the Covid pandemic that there was a real need to support local communities,” one official says.

  • By Courtney Bublé

Monkeypox Cases on the Rise Across States

Mitigating the virus comes down to “testing, tracing and timely vaccines and treatments,” a senior federal health official says.

  • By Courtney Bublé

Big City Health Agencies Look to Solve Staff Shortfalls

Federal grant funding to help could soon be on the way.

  • By Kery Murakami

Taco Bowls and Chicken Curry: Medi-Cal Delivers Ready Meals in Grand Health Care Experiment

In California's Inland Empire, where many residents have diabetes, a health plan is delivering healthy, prepared meals to those lucky enough to get them.

  • By Angela Hart and Heidi de Marco, Kaiser Health News

Greener Cities Could Prevent Thousands of Deaths

COMMENTARY | Increasing green space in U.S. cities may substantially reduce mortality from all causes, according to a new study.

  • By Jillian McKoy, Futurity

National Public Health Emergency to Last Until At Least October

The eventual end of the emergency is poised to have major ramifications for Medicaid and nutrition assistance programs.

  • By Kery Murakami
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With Complaints Rising, Transit Agencies Search for Alternatives to Police

As they look to win back riders lost during the pandemic, bus and subway operators are looking beyond traditional law enforcement to address their concerns.

  • By Daniel C. Vock

Public Health Workers Still Fighting the Pandemic, Even as Policy Makers Move On

"It's not over," warns Dr. Georges Benjamin of the American Public Health Association in an interview with Route Fifty.

  • By Daniela Altimari

States Have Yet to Spend Hundreds of Millions of Federal Dollars to Tackle Covid Health Disparities

A year ago, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention awarded states and local health departments $2.25 billion to help people of color and other populations at higher risk from Covid. But a KHN review shows public health agencies across the country have been slow to spend it.

  • By Phil Galewitz, Lauren Weber and Sam Whitehead, Kaiser Health News

Online Data Could be Used Against People Seeking Abortions if Roe v. Wade Falls

COMMENTARY | Women in states where abortion becomes illegal who rely on the internet for information, products and services related to reproductive health would be subject to online policing.

  • By Nora McDonald, The Conversation

What To Know About NYC’s B-HEARD Mental Health Crisis Response Teams

The pilot program still routes most mental health calls to the police.

  • By Annie McDonough

Why Pandemic Food and Medicaid Benefits Could Soon an End

The federal government is again extending a health emergency keeping the extra aid in place, but this could be the last time.

  • By Kery Murakami

Death Threats, Stress and Signs of Crisis in the Public Health Workforce

Nearly one in three public health workers are considering leaving their jobs within the next year, according to a new survey, as PTSD and deteriorating mental health appear to be on the rise.

  • By Daniela Altimari

Bird Flu is Killing Millions of Chickens and Turkeys Across the US

Bird flu is back. Does it threaten humans?

  • By Yuko Sato, The Conversation

Climate Change May Push the US Toward the ‘Goldilocks Zone’ for West Nile Virus

Colorado recently recorded the most West Nile virus deaths and cases of neuroinvasive infections in nearly two decades. Scientists warn that climate change will make conditions ripe for more West Nile transmission.

  • By Melissa Bailey, Kaiser Health News