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After COVID: Rebuilding Public Health and Healthcare Resilience Childhood Development and Education Cancer and the Power of Preventive Screening Violence as a Public Health Issue Chronic Diseases in 2024: Diagnosis, Treatment, and Prevention Health Policy Biotechnology and Public Health Neurological Impairment and Stroke Homelessness, Poverty, and Public Health Oral Health Focus on Delaware’s Workforce Minority Health Place Matters: Geography and Health Behavioral Health and Trauma-Informed Care Vaccine Preventable Disease Genetics / Genomics Dementia in Delaware Technology and Public Health Intellectual and Development Disability One Health Racism & Health Public Libraries – Public Health Part 2, From Cells to Society: Research in the time of COVID-19 Part 1, From Cells to Society: Research in the time of COVID-19 Health Sciences Education Health Policy: The Road to Value-Based Care Disaster Preparedness LGBTQ+ Health Equity Communicable Disease Data to Decision Making

Current Issue – After COVID – Rebuilding Public Health and Healthcare Resilience

In late 2019, news coming out of China mentioned whispers of an unknown communicable disease affecting people who had attended a so-called wet market. The United States government—and Delaware Public Health leadership—kept an ear out for any news, and soon, more and more patients were being affected. Then, the disease spread outside of China.

The pandemic (and ensuing lockdowns) made us reimagine the ways healthcare – and education, manufacturing, and any number of other industries – could be provided. Public health was in the spotlight. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) were constantly updating their recommendations, and Dr. Anthony Fauci was the voice of the science behind vaccines. We turned to telemedicine to see patients in their own homes, childhood vaccines were given in parking lots by masked providers, and elective surgeries were cancelled.

In this issue of the Delaware Journal of Public Health, we invite you to read about how we have researched the strength of the healthcare workforce in our state, how one of our healthcare institutions have used robots to assist the workforce, and how we have incorporated telehealth into primary care. We also highlight how the type of residence affected health outcomes for individuals with developmental disabilities during the pandemic, how switching to virtual classes increased the access to Delaware Mini Medical School for high school students throughout the state, and offer the executive summary of the Delaware State Health Assessment, 2022-2023.

3 | In This Issue
Omar A. Khan, M.D., M.H.S.
Katherine Smith, M.D., M.P.H.

4 | Delaware Health Force: A Comprehensive Approach to Addressing Healthcare Workforce and Access Challenges
Nicole Sabine, B.S.

6 | Improving Postpartum Follow-Up with Telehealth: Did the Pandemic Nudge Us in a Better Direction?
Kathryn Vollum Woodroof, M.D.
Melanie Chichester, B.S.N., R.N.C.-O.B., C.P.L.C., R.N.C.-I.A.P., F.A.W.H.O.N.N
Karen Antell, M.D., M.P.H., F.A.A.F.P.
Diana Wohler, M.D.

12 | Virtual Primary Care in a Large Delaware-Based Independent Academic Medical Center: Impact and Opportunity
Darrell C. Dow, M.S.
Sarah E. Schenck, M.D., F.A.C.P.
Tracy L. Bell, M.B.A., P.M.P., L.S.S.G.B.
Stephanie C. Roth M.L.I.S.
Omar Khan, M.D., M.H.S.

20 | Integrating Collaborative Robots into a Complex Hospital Setting: A Qualitative Descriptive Study
Susan Smith Birkhoff, Ph.D., R.N.
Paige Merring, M.S.N., R.N., C.C.R.N., N.E.A.-B.C.
Amanda Spence, B.S.N., R.N.-B.C.
Wendy Bassett
Stephanie C. Roth, M.L.I.S.

32 | Associations Between Residence Type and Health Outcomes for Individuals with Developmental Disabilities Following the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Quantitative Analysis
Ankita Mohan, M.H.S.
Jody Roberts, Ph.D.

42 | Global Health Matters Newsletter
September – October 2024
Fogarty International Center

54 | Flipping the Stats: A COVID-19 Success Story
My Healthy Community, Delaware’s Environmental Public Health Tracking Network

60 | Executive Summary of the Delaware State Health
Assessment: 2022-2023 Report

62 | Delaware Mini Medical School. An Expeditionary and Health Literacy Program for Youth, Young Adults, and Those Exploring New Career Options
Timothy E. Gibbs, M.P.H.
Nicole Sabine, B.S.

70 | Access to Virtual Care in Behavioral Health: A Social Determinant of Health
Patrick J. Hearle, M.D.
Emily Ann Smith, M.D.
Richard J Caplan, Ph.D.
Ram A. Sharma, M.D.

76 | Index of Advertisers

78 | Delaware Journal of Public Health
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