Here’s some good news about the battle against the obesity epidemic: national data shows the average intake of calories has decreased for boys and girls over the last 12 years. While the news is encouraging, our work to promote nutrition and physical activity to reduce obesity remains important. Reducing obesity is a Winnable Battle both nationally and [...]
Believe it or not only 27% of health care workers are up to date with their whooping cough booster… yet health care personnel can be infected with it by their patients, and then pass it on to other patients, family, and the community. The Arizona Partnership Against Pertussis, a coalition of seventeen health care organizations [...]
The best kind of good works are those that are done without prompting. Today, I met with a young lady whose mom works at ADHS. Earlier this month, Edie turned 8 and decided that instead of gifts she wanted to collect food for the food bank. But not just any kind of food – she [...]
Spring in Arizona is exciting for many reasons. We look forward to warmer weather, beautiful desert blooms, and cactus league baseball. Spring also signals the transition to our norovirus season… which infects about 21 million Americans including hundreds of thousands of Arizonans. Norovirus inflames the stomach and intestines and causes 24-48 hours of very unpleasant vomiting and diarrhea. [...]
The 2013 US Public Health Service’s Scientific and Training Symposiumwill be held at the Renaissance Hotel in Glendale, Arizona from May 21 to 23, 2013. The Symposium is affordable and presents a range of continuing education, training and networking opportunities for public health folks at all levels as well as students and teachers interested in public [...]
If your at all interested in celestial events... make sure you take the time to check out Comet PANSTARRS starting this week at sunset in the West. It'll be around for a couple of weeks then it's off to space again. Here's more info about it. A different, much brighter comet is due in November called Comet ISON... which may [...]
In the world of health care- the clinician works with patients individually. They examine various indicators of health for their patient including direct observations and laboratory or other diagnostic tests and implement interventions to help their patient improve their health. Providers also encourage their patients to live healthy lifestyles and take safety precautions- and help [...]
No doubt the word “ Sequestration” is front and center in your vocabulary these days. This is just a quick note to forecast how it might impact our mission. For starters… the main impacts from federal sequestration (i.e. the federal budget reduction for some programs) will be related to the services that we provide and [...]
What’s a Promotora? In simple terms, a Promotora is a community health worker who's a trusted member of the community and serves as a link between people and services to promote the overall health of family, friends and neighbors. Creating effective linkages between vulnerable populations and the health care system can be challenging in Arizona. Like many [...]
This week’s Vital Signs report shows that antibiotics are being overpowered by lethal germs called carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae or (CRE).These germs cause lethal infections in patients that get inpatient medical care in hospitals, long-term care facilities and nursing homes. In their normal forms, the germs- in the Enterobacteriaceae family (e.g. E. coli) are a normal part of our digestive system. However, some of them have [...]
