Posts Tagged ‘winnable battles’

Put a Stop to Poisoning

April 25th, 2013

The benefit of everything is determined by dosage.  Even water, a critical element for life, is bad for the human body when you have too much.  But when it comes to prescription drugs, the dosage is incredibly important.  Doctors spend years learning about which medications work for what and how much is the right dose.  Lots of us think that we know what’s best for our bodies and we keep around medication from previous visits to the doctor – just in case we need it.  That can be really dangerous for us and for others in the house.  Small children might think the pills or medicine is candy… older children might try experimenting or their friends may steal it from your medicine cabinet. 

That’s why days like this Saturday are important for getting rid of mediation you aren’t currently prescribed.  There are more than 90 locations across Arizona that will let you drop off those medications from 10 am to 2 pm.  It’s hosted by the Drug Enforcement Agency and local law enforcement.  Just go to the DEA’s website and click on the “Got Drugs” button.  From there you can put in your zip code to find the closest place to you.

Reducing substance abuse is one of our five winnable battles in Arizona.  We turned a corner a few years ago when the number of drug-related deaths passed the number of people who die in car accidents.  We joined several other state agencies in a Prescription Drug Reduction Initiative.  Part of effort includes the installation of permanent drug drop boxes were installed in three counties: Yavapai (5), Pinal (7) and Graham (4). Besides the boxes tied to the Initiative, there are permanent drug drop boxes in Greenlee County and Cochise County. These boxes aren’t the only thing the initiative is doing…  last summer we held a forum to talk about prescription drugs and how people get them.  We’ve created some great tools for emergency rooms based on what we learned there.  Stay tuned for that.

When you make your honey do list for the weekend activities, think about adding “drug drop off” to the list.

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Posted in Behavioral Health, Prevention

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Driving Suicides to Zero

April 10th, 2013

Medical providers (doctors, nurse practitioners, registered nurses, etc.) are invited to join Magellan for their Driving Suicides to Zero training Monday, April 29 from 9 to 11 a.m. or 1 to 3 p.m.  The goal of the training is to help reduce the suicide rate by providing behavioral healthcare professionals with the skills, knowledge, attitudes and support to more effectively intervene and engage with those at risk of suicide.  The course is available for free to medical providers and will take place at Magellan’s Learning and Performance Center (4801 E. Washington St., Phoenix). To register visit Magellan’s Learning Website.

Reducing suicides is one of our 5 Winnable Battles at DHS.  Our Office of Prevention in Behavioral Health works with Magellan and all the Regional and Tribal Behavioral Health Authorities across the state.

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Posted in Behavioral Health

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Winnable Battles

May 4th, 2012

As part of our strategic plan, we name 5 winnable battles to prioritize over the next 1-3 years.  While not de-emphasizing work in other areas, this is an important effort to achieve measurable impact quickly in a few targeted areas.  We’ve identified five areas as key domestic winnable battles for improving our state’s health, based on the scope of the burden and the ability to make significant progress in improving outcomes.  By identifying clear targets and by working closely with our public health partners, we can make significant progress in these areas.

These winnable battles include:  Promoting Nutrition and Physical Activity to Reduce Obesity, Reducing Tobacco Use & Substance Abuse, Reducing Healthcare Associated Infections, Reducing Suicides, and Reducing Teen Pregnancy.  Through targeted activities, our programs are working to bring the most feasible and cost-effective strategies to fruition, making a meaningful impact on health in our state.  I’ve put together a presentation that addresses the state of the state and where we stand on our winnable battles. Check it out on our Managing for Excellence Website.

 

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Winnable Battle- Healthcare Acquired Infections

August 18th, 2010

Each year in the US there are 1.7 million health care associated infections that cause approximately 99,000 deaths in US hospitals.  There are lots of germs that can cause health care associated infections, but 16% are in the really bad category because they’re resistant to  antibiotics.  These multidrug-resistant organisms pose huge problems once they get started, which is why preventing their transmission in health care facilities so important. The germ that gets the most attention is methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)- and preventing health care MRSA infections is one of our top public health goals in AZ.

A new study this week suggests that we may be making some headway.  A new study published in JAMA found that the rates of invasive health care associated MRSA infections decreased in recent years among patients with infections that began outside and inside hospitals.

We’ve developed a Healthcare-Associated Infection (HAI) and Antibiotic Resistance resource page to help healthcare providers to develop and implement better plans to reduce healthcare associated infections.  We’re also working in various ways through our medical and long term care licensing programs and our public health programs to keep making headway on this important CDC Winnable Battle.

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“Winnable Public Health Battles” Motor Vehicle Injuries

May 27th, 2010

This week I’m looking at what you are sure to hear a lot about in the coming three years.  The CDC, led by Dr. Thomas Frieden, will be strategically addressing 5 “winnable battles” in public health.  So far, I told you about Healthcare associated infections, childhood obesity and preventing smoking.  We can make a difference in all of these, if people make personal changes.  It is the same with the fourth winnable battle:

4.     Motor Vehicle Injuries

In the US, car crashes are the leading cause of death for people ages 1–34, and nearly 5 million people get injuries that require an emergency department visit each year. The economic impact is huge: car crashes cost around $230 Billion.  Big problems include child passenger safety, teen drivers, impaired driving, distracted driving (e.g. texting, BlackBerrying), speeding, and senior driving.

You can visit our injury prevention website and look at the response end of traumatic injury on our trauma site where you’ll find Arizona specific reports like: Golden Hour by Region ASTR 2005-2008; Mode of Transportation ASTR 2005-2008; Over and Under-Triage Report 2009; Air Ambulance Abstract Final Version Sept09; All-Terrain Vehicle Related Unintentional Injuries Arizona 2003 – 2007; ATV Injuries in Children Fact Sheet;  Helmet Your Child; Trauma Fast Facts – Injuries, Charges, Payor Mix and Cause of Injury by Legislative District and County; MVA Injury Fact Sheet; and Trauma Incidence in Maricopa County by Zip Code.

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“Winnable Public Health Battles” Childhood Overweight and Obesity

May 25th, 2010

This week, I’m sharing the CDC’s 5 Winnable Battles as set forth by the new head of the CDC), Dr. Frieden.  During the next 3 years,  CDC will be increasingly  focusing its strategic planning on public health and policy interventions to help win the 5 “Winnable Battles”.  There’s not much on the CDC’s website yet on the new strategy, but moving forward you’re sure to hear about them.  Today, a look at the second winnable battle:

2.     Childhood Overweight and Obesity

Obesity is a serious health concern for children and adolescents. Results from the 2007-2008 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), using measured heights and weights, indicate that (nationally) an 17% of children ages 2-19 years are obese. Among pre-school age children 2-5 years of age, obesity increased from 5 to 10.4% between 1976-1980 and 2007-2008 and from 6.5 to 19.6% among 6-11 year olds.  Among adolescents aged 12-19, obesity increased from 5 to 18.1% during the same period.

Obese children and adolescents are at risk for health problems during their youth and as adults. For example, during their youth, obese children and adolescents are more likely to have risk factors associated with cardiovascular disease (such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and Type 2 diabetes) than are other children and adolescents.  For more info on how we’re working to do something about the problem in Arizona, you can visit our http://www.azwic.gov/ and Physical Activity Program

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5 “Winnable Public Health Battles” Infection Control

May 24th, 2010

I was in Atlanta a couple of weeks ago for new health officer orientation and was able to meet with Dr. Frieden (the new head of the CDC) a couple of times.  Each time that we met he referred to a general theme that the CDC will be using over the next 3 years to drive public health policy- it’s called Public Health’s “Winnable Battles”.  CDC will be increasingly  focusing its strategic planning on public health and policy interventions to help win the 5 “Winnable Battles”.  There’s not much on the CDC’s website yet on the new strategy- but moving forward you’re sure to hear about them.  I’ll introduce them to you this week:

1. Infection Control

This one is probably the most winnable “Winnable Battle” in the short run.  Healthcare-associated infections are  acquired when being treated for something else in a healthcare setting. They’re one of the top-10 leading causes of death in the US.  We’ve developed a Healthcare-Associated Infection (HAI) and Antibiotic Resistance resource page to help healthcare providers to develop and implement better plans to reduce healthcare associated infections.

Unlike the problems of teen pregnancy, smoking, and obesity- interventions to reduce healthcare acquired infections can have an impact even in the short run.  The CDC’s Infection Control website also has information to help providers do better in this area.

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