Perspectives Public Health Review

What do our pets mean for our health? How does the care of our pets affect and reflect the health of our communities? For this episode, we discussed the impact of human and companion animal relationships with several guests: veterinarian and Assistant Professor of Community Medicine in the Department of Veterinary Clinicals Sciences Lauren Bernstein, member of the Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians and Vice President of the East Phillips Neighborhood Institute, Cassandra Holmes (Niiwin Muck-Wa Ikwe – Four Bears Woman), Professor in the School of Public Health’s Division of Epidemiology and Community Health Dr. Pam Schreiner, and Deb Barker, who is a life-long animal lover with decades of animal training experience. We hope you enjoy this deep dive into the nature of our relationships with our pets through the lens of health.

UPDATE: VeTouch is moving locations beginning at the Nov. 5th clinic to 25th and Minnehaha, a pet food shelf called People and Pets Together. Dr Bernstein wanted to share this resource with our listeners in case there is any interest in volunteering at a future clinic or need services for their pets.

Health research related to weight and the idea of obesity is a frequent topic in the news. Just recently, we’ve been hearing about the diabetes medication Ozempic being used for weight loss and that the American Academy of Pediatrics revised their guidelines for treating children diagnosed with obesity to include weight loss medications and potentially surgery starting at age 13. Obesity and weight loss research is a complex and sometimes emotionally difficult topic and we wanted to try to look at it from multiple viewpoints to get a fuller picture of the research being done and how it’s shaping healthcare. So, for this show, we talked to a recent graduate from the Master's of Public Health program about her experiences in fat activism and research in the fat community, and we also spoke to a professor and researcher from the School of Public Health who focuses on weight-related health. The following organizations were mentioned in this show: The Radical Health Alliance, Cake Plus-Size Resale, National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance, and the Association for Size Diversity and Health.

Link to transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Rm385CDQH9YfdGWGLhfr27NMzv5vpUgZ5vnOJY_nX2A/edit?usp=sharing

Link to Topic Survey: https://forms.gle/4HuR4ZW6h2RYAMCH6

Meet the new Public Health Review Board!

Welcome to Season 5 of Perspectives from your new podcast editors, Mariah and Amanda! We thought we would take this episode to briefly introduce ourselves and also give you a chance to hear from the print editorial team members who are currently working on the next issue of the Public Health Review. We are coming to this from a variety of disciplines, including epidemiology, medicine, nursing, and, of course, public health. All of us share an interest in health equity, which we each took a few minutes to discuss in this introductory episode of Season 5. After you’ve given episode 1 a listen, feel free to drop an anonymous suggestion for future episodes through this survey: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/18ORjttcoiZHAhLNkEiDNYyibY2Wq1qx7nSkDWtI7QjQ/prefill

Surprise! Bonus episode! In this episode I chat with Jill Collins, a graduate from the University of Minnesota Master of Public Health program, about abortion. Jill sees the importance of conversation and the value of highlighting topics from a public health perspective, and she gracefully incorporates both into her work as an abortion patient advocate and middle school sex educator. Jill walks us through the conversation of abortion, explaining what it is, what common misconceptions are, what happens when someone cannot access it, how to talk about it in a classroom setting, and how we can work together to protect and expand access. We put together a list of resources--tools, clinics, donation pages, and legislative updates in Minnesota that have happened since this episode was originally recorded--make sure to check those out. Thank you again to all of our listeners for joining us on another season of the Perspectives podcast! -H

Transcript: docs.google.com/document/d/1L2U7P…/edit?usp=sharing
Resources list: docs.google.com/document/d/1LY_sE…dHNfnhpXrvw/edit#

This episode features an engaging discussion about current public health education as well as what public health education will look like as our world continues evolving. Haley and Sophie are joined by Rebecca Wurtz, MD, MPH, an associate professor at the University of Minnesota, Director of Executive Public Health Administration & Policy Program, and one of the faculty that helped found this podcast!

Thank you to all of our listeners for joining us on another season of the Perspectives podcast! It has been a pleasure learning with all of you.
--S & H

Resources:
Transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dORqHTsW9YFRr0i-MpnQ25AIguwUdtaks3ieLTUKchM/edit?usp=sharing
UMN Master of Public Health Program: https://www.sph.umn.edu/academics/degrees-programs/mph/
UMN Undergraduate Public Health Major: https://cehsp.d.umn.edu/departments-centers/departments/applied-human-sciences/programs/public-health/public-health-major

This episode features Megan Zimmerman, a leader within the Northeast Iowa Area Agency on Aging’s project to establish Dementia Friendly Communities - she has done work across the state of Iowa and is also currently working towards her master’s degree in gerontology. In this episode Megan and Sophie talk about combating ageism, what the future of care may look like, and the role of the care continuum in improving quality of life for older adults.

Resources:
Trellis is a large resource for gerontology in Minnesota, they house the MN state dementia friendly initiatives Dementia-Friendly Community Initiatives: trellisconnects.org
Dementia Friendly Iowa is the organization that Megan Zimmerman works for: https://dementiafriendlyiowa.org/
Family Resources through LeadingAge Minnesota can help identify needs and options for older adults and caregivers: leadingagemn.org