After a year and a half of work as embedded disability specialists, 5 program participants share their reflections on important lessons learned and why disability inclusion is critical to the future of emergency preparedness.
Each video in this series focuses on a unique topic and features stories from ASTHO’s disability and preparedness specialists in the field. The videos demonstrate how they work to ensure information, testing, and COVID-19 vaccination sites ...
Deaf people—especially sign language users—are one community that is often overlooked and forgotten in public health communications, which are almost always caused by miscommunication or exclusivity. COVID-19 has shined a light on these ...
ASTHO has been helping jurisdictions prepare for and respond to the needs of people with disabilities during public health emergencies by embedding disability preparedness specialists in 16 state and 2 territorial health agencies.
On Dec. 3, International Day of Persons with Disabilities, ASTHO is commemorating nearly 12 months of supporting disability and preparedness specialists in state and territorial health agencies. Throughout 2021, ASTHO embedded 20 full-time ...
When Beatriz Vallejo, the disability and preparedness specialist in Puerto Rico, first joined the health agency, she took on planning a novel program to share knowledge and clarify each sectors’ roles and responsibilities during an ...
The Embedded specialist in South Carolina used an ASTHO tool to assist the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control improve inclusivity of people living with disabilities in their public health programs.
ASTHO placed 14 disability and preparedness specialists in health agencies to support inclusivity of people living with disabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. In this brief, three of these specialists share their experiences ...
On July 27, 2023, ASTHO announced it has been selected as a 2023 Power of Associations Gold Award winner for its Partnering for Vaccine Equity initiative, and a 2023 Power of Associations Silver Award winner for its Disability and ...
The COVID-19 pandemic provided an unprecedented opportunity to speed up developing Delaware’s Functional Assessment Service Team and to test it at scale.
Susan Tharpe, the ASTHO disability and preparedness specialist placed in the Georgia Department of Public Health, discusses the importance of partnering with the Autism community on emergency preparedness.
Over the past twenty years, the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events and natural disasters have increased and, by most accounts, this trend will continue. Certain disabilities and activity limitations make it more difficult to ...
According to the federal government, a homebased individual is someone who requires the help of another person or supportive device to leave the home, someone who is advised against leaving the home by a physician, and/or someone for whom ...
ASTHO, in collaboration with CDC, provided full-time disability and preparedness specialists to 17 jurisdictions to better meet the needs of people with disabilities. In this brief, specialists share their thoughts on why people living ...
People living with disabilities have borne disproportionate burden in past emergency situations due to inequities in preparedness and response. To address and prevent inequities in the COVID-19 response, ASTHO placed 14 disability and ...