Washington, DC, July 7, 2023 — On this week’s podcast, the National Association of County and City Health Officials’ Adriane Casalotti, Chief of Government and Public Affairs, and Lauren Mastroberardino, Government Affairs Senior Specialist, provided an update on the federal appropriations process, including the impacts of the debt ceiling deal, current state of play, and possible implications for public health. They also discussed progress in the reauthorization of the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act (PAHPA) and highlighted recent local health official testimony and briefings. They also previewed their upcoming NACCHO360 session entitled, “Informing Public Health Policy in a Complex Political Climate,” which will take place on Wednesday, July 12 at the annual conference in Denver or over the livestream.

Later in the program (11:02), NACCHO Communications Specialist Beth Hess spoke with Daniel Aldrich, PhD, Professor of Political Science, Public Policy and Urban Affairs, Northeastern University. Aldrich joined the 2023 Preparedness Summit in April as one of the plenary speakers on the topic of empowering resilient communities. Community resilience is the ability to prepare for anticipated hazards, adapt to changing conditions, and withstand and recover rapidly from disruptions. Activities, such as disaster preparedness—which includes prevention, protection, mitigation, response and recovery—are key steps to resilience. They discussed the importance of social capital—the networks of relationships among people who live and work in a particular society—and the role it plays in empowering communities to thrive. Community resilience and public health practice are intertwined. NACCHO’s community resilience work and its relationship with public health preparedness can be found here. Listen to the episode.

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About NACCHO

The National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) represents the nation’s nearly 3,000 local governmental health departments. These city, county, metropolitan, district, and tribal departments work every day to protect and promote health and well-being for all people in their communities. For more information about NACCHO, please visit www.naccho.org.