Here you will find topics ranging from current events that affect public health in Arizona to overall information about the Arizona Department of Health Services
One of the key objectives of public health is to assess the cause of disease or bad outcomes so we can design interventions. In order to do that, we need to be able to tell the difference between when something is actually “causing” an outcome and when the exposure or condition is simply “associated” or [...]
In Part I and Part II of this series we’ve introduced the idea that contemporary pain management strategies have resulted in an epidemic of painkiller misuse and abuse that’s killing large numbers of people. In fact, misuse and abuse of opiate prescription painkillers takes out more people every year than car crashes. The run-up to the [...]
In 2012 the Arizona Developmental Disabilities Planning Council (the DDPC works out of the 4th floor of our 1740 building) partnered with the Southwest Autism Research and Resource Center (SARRC) to develop new self-employment opportunities. The Home Baked and Confectionary Goods law was used as the foundation for the project due to potential ease of [...]
Depression strikes more people than you might think. Some 300,000 people in Arizona live with major depression. It may take years from when symptoms first emerge and to when people finally get help. Less than one-third of adults with a diagnosed mental illness receive treatment. Often, it’s the friends and family of a person living [...]
Arizona Developmental Disabilities Planning Council is sponsoring a series of six Employment First Community Forums to develop a comprehensive strategic plan designed to promote employment for individuals with developmental and intellectual disabilities. A broad coalition of self-advocates, family members, service providers, educators, state agencies, advocates and employers are sharing ideas and strategies to raise public [...]
Last week we wrapped up our 5th annual Arizona Infectious Disease Training and Exercise. This event kicked off with a full day pandemic influenza tabletop exercise followed by two days of training on a variety of infectious disease topics. The 400 registrants – public health folks, infection preventionists, healthcare providers, academic partners, and others – learned [...]
You’ve probably read about how we are working on the Arizona Health Improvement Plan to help us all live a better, healthier and longer life. But one of the most important things we can do as today’s leaders is to inspire tomorrow’s leaders. I had the opportunity to meet Cody Vasquez this week – he’s [...]
A few years ago our Bureau of EMS & Trauma System enticed dozens of AZ hospitals to become a Cardiac Receiving Centers. The initiative helps hospitals provide treatments scientifically proven to improve a patient’s survival rate (like using therapeutic hypothermia to improve the chances of survival). The program also includes protocols for the pre-hospital teams [...]
In our lifetimes, each one of us is likely to experience pain. The pain experience could be acute and resolve itself in short order (like a bee sting). Pain can also be a chronic experience lasting a long time with varying levels of intensity (like rheumatoid arthritis). Pain is also subjective and what one person considers [...]
Last Spring the Legislature passed and the Governor signed a new law that provided our agency with the same inspection authority at abortion clinics that we have at all the other healthcare institutions we license. The previous authority required us to give abortion clinics a 10 day notice before we conduct a routine inspection. We also used to have to [...]
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