Our Office of Injury Prevention has released the 2014 Traumatic Brain Injury report that shows deaths and inpatient hospitalizations have decreased in Arizona by about 15 percent since 2010, but more people are being seen in emergency departments. A traumatic brain injury is caused by a bump, blow, or jolt to the head, or by [...]
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is undertaking a Lean Six Sigma process improvement project for the development of the WIC state plan. Six Sigma is a data-driven approach and methodology for eliminating shortcomings in processes. USDA selected a variety of state agencies and regional offices to take part in the five-month project. The [...]
The Arizona Youth Risk Behavior Survey has some good news for the tobacco prevalence rate among high school aged youth. According to the new data, we saw a drop of almost 30 percent between 2013 and 2015. The percentage of youth using tobacco in our state dropped from 14.1 percent in 2013 to 10.1 percent [...]
It’s bad enough to be sick, but worse is the thought of passing your illness to someone else. Have you ever wondered when you’re contagious and when you’re not? Some diseases can keep people infectious for a while. For example, people with pertussis (whooping cough) can be contagious for two weeks. People with infectious tuberculosis [...]
The Eighth Edition of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans has some great new changes based on the most current scientific evidence. For the first time, the guidelines set a specific recommendation to consume less than 10 percent of your calories from added sugars. They reaffirm that healthy eating includes choosing a variety of vegetables like [...]
A few weeks ago I blogged about Zika virus, a disease spread by mosquitoes that was newly detected in several Central and South American countries. This week, the CDC confirmed the first case virus of Zika in the United States. The virus was found in a person who lives in Texas, but who had traveled [...]
Our employees wore green and jeans this week to raise awareness of folic acid and its benefits before and during pregnancy. January is Birth Defects Prevention Month, and January 10 through 16 is Folic Acid Awareness Week, which are great opportunities to highlight a simple way that women can help prevent birth defects. A daily multivitamin [...]
This Thursday is a big day for all of us who work in the Capitol area. It is the start of the new Capitol Farmers Market. You’ll find the market from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. along the southwest corner of 17th Avenue and Adams Street. You can shop at the new Farmers Market every Thursday from [...]
We are continuing our support of Arizona EMS agencies’ community paramedicine activities by posting a new Community Paramedicine Crosswalk on the Bureau of EMS and Trauma System webpage. The Community Paramedicine Crosswalk serves as a one-stop interactive resource that enables EMS agencies and county health departments to communicate and collaborate on sharing limited resources in managing public health problems. [...]
Lately it seems like there are a lot of people sick with a cold or the flu. Respiratory viruses often circulate in the wintertime, and this winter is no exception. But when your aunt skips out on a family dinner because she has the flu, is that really what’s making her sick, or does she [...]
