Policy & Practice December 2018

editor’s note By Jessica Garon

One Dream, One Team

I t’s hard to believe another year is nearly over. It’s even harder to believe that this year has somehow brought us an even more tech-enabled world—the spread of AI, 3-D metal printing, and genetic fortune-telling— an innovation that can provide babies with DNA “report cards” at birth— crazy! And in a more familiar fashion, technology via social media has been elevated to a new level, bringing forth a wider array of voices and opinions than ever before. Depending on where you sit, this could be considered both a good and a bad thing. As a self-proclaimed optimist, I would argue that a mul- titude of voices brings us different perspectives and ideas that can, ultimately, increase our knowledge. However, if we aren’t opening our ears, minds, and possibly most important, our hearts, all these varying voices and opinions can, regrettably, start to make us feel like we are all on different teams. And, with “bots” and “trolls” increasingly used to intentionally create such divides, the need to fully understand how to best leverage the impact of digital platforms has become even more pronounced. So where do we go from here? As health and human services professionals, it should be our goal to create unity—one cohesive team. Easier said than done, right? Maybe not. At our core, we all really want the same thing: to be healthy and live well no matter where we come from or what our life experiences have been. Life inevitably has its ups and downs (even for self-proclaimed optimists). But when times get tough and communities are challenged with problems that can negatively affect health and well-being, it’s you, our

To our many contributing writers, thank you for sharing. To our readers, thank you for opening your ears, minds, and hearts. And to everyone, thank you for being a part of the team!

nation’s health and human services professionals who step in, find solu- tions, and prevent future problems. That’s why this magazine—and our yearly issue highlighting partner- ships—is so important to us here at APHSA. Through your stories, experiences, research, and dedication, we have the ability to enrich the field and impact our communities. Together we can advance sound policy and practice and generate solutions that work for everyone.

Jessica Garon , Director of Communications at APHSA, can be reached at jgaron@aphsa.org.

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December 2018 Policy&Practice