Episode #475 Redefining Public Health Together
On This Episode Of The Public Health Epidemiology Conversations (PHEC) Podcast
When the Job Title Doesn't Say "Public Health"
Funding shifts. Positions disappear. Administrations change. But the need for public health never does. In this episode, Dr. Huntley brings together three professionals who are proving that public health work shows up everywhere, whether or not it says so on a business card.
Translating Public Health Into Plain Language
Dr. Belina Shaw, Jenna Paladino, and Ashley Peterson each answer the same deceptively simple question: how do you explain public health to someone who has never worked in the field? Their answers range from a broken leg analogy to a financial lens to the everyday realities of workplace wellness, and together they paint a picture of a field that is far more interdisciplinary than most people realize.
From Financial Stress to Family Caregiving
The conversation moves through some unexpected territory, including the connection between financial stress and physical health, the challenge of explaining who pays for care, and the pressure of caring for aging parents while still raising a family. Each guest brings a distinct lens shaped by their own career pivot, and together they show how purpose can outlast any single position.
A Conversation About Staying the Course
Dr. Huntley uses this panel format to spotlight the creativity happening across public health right now. Listeners will come away with practical language for explaining this work to friends, family, and coworkers, along with a reminder that innovation in this field often comes from the professionals willing to meet people exactly where they are.
About Our Guests
Dr. Billina Shaw
Dr. Belina Shaw is a triple board certified psychiatrist with training in child and adolescent psychiatry, addiction medicine, and general adult psychiatry, as well as a public health professional. She spent much of her career in public behavioral health settings, most recently serving as a senior medical advisor at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). In that role, she worked on the infrastructure behind the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline and on programs addressing Black suicide prevention. Dr. Shaw now runs a behavioral health focused consulting company and describes herself as a full time "doctorpreneur." Her current work explores the intersection of financial wellness, stress, and overall health.
Jenna Paladino
Jenna Paladino is a healthcare lobbyist, advocate, and professor with twenty three years of experience spanning mental health, behavioral health, home health, hospice, and the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE). She has written legislation at both the state and federal level and has spent her career helping people understand who is responsible for paying for care, particularly for aging and vulnerable populations. Jenna is passionate about ensuring healthcare access reaches every community, regardless of zip code.
Ashley Peterson
Ashley Peterson is a certified health education specialist who graduated with a public health degree emphasizing health promotion from Brigham Young University and is currently a year into her master's program in public health. She began her career at a nonprofit serving immigrant communities in Utah County, where she led drug prevention and dating violence prevention trainings before moving into health marketing. Ashley now runs the wellness program at Associated Food Stores, a grocery store company, where she works with employees ranging from executives to warehouse staff and truck drivers.
Listen To This Episode Of The Public Health Epidemiology Conversations (PHEC) Podcast
Conversation Highlights
Prevention is the easiest way to explain public health.
Ashley shares her go-to analogy: a doctor treats a broken leg, but public health asks what caused it and how to prevent it from happening again.
Financial wellness is public health.
Dr. Shaw explains that money is consistently one of the top stressors for Americans, and that addressing financial stress belongs in the same conversation as mental and physical health.
Ask what it is and who pays for it.
Jenna's framework for explaining healthcare access starts with defining the service and identifying the funding source, which she says helps people weather uncertainty across different administrations.
Public health lives wherever people already are.
Ashley's worksite wellness program meets employees during the many hours they spend at work, showing how public health can extend beyond clinics and homes.
Purpose can outlast a position.
All three guests have navigated funding cuts or job loss in their careers, yet each found new ways to keep doing meaningful work in the field.
Caregiving now spans generations at once.
Jenna describes the pressure of caring for children, aging parents, and in-laws simultaneously, and the ongoing need for plain language tools and resources to support what she calls the "sandwich generation."
Younger professionals bring valuable perspective.
Dr. Shaw encourages seasoned public health professionals to welcome new voices, noting that younger colleagues often bring fresh thinking unburdened by long standing institutional habits.
"It costs a lot less money to prevent a disease than to treat a disease." — Ashley Peterson
"Public health is for everyone. Public health doesn't get to have a label of, well, you live in this zip code." — Jenna Paladino
"We need younger people here and you're not here in spite of, but because of your innovation, youth, your thoughtfulness and just shift in perspective." — Dr. Shaw
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Public Health Consulting
DrCHHuntley LLC is a public health consulting firm that specializes in epidemiology consulting, supporting large nonprofit organizations in South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi, and Florida that serve Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC). We also provide nationwide public health consulting and epidemiology consulting support to BIPOC organizations across the United States.
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