When I started working at our agency in 1992 (doing risk assessments for state superfund sites) I never dreamed that one day I’d have the honor of serving as the agency director. Quite honestly, I never had a goal of being the director- but somehow it just happened. This has been an awesome job. [...]
One of the services we sometimes take for granted is mail service. At ADHS we have a small mailroom, staffed by Susan Barnes and Meredith Chernov, who processes mail sent through the US Postal Department and the inter-office mail between state offices. In 2014 our mailroom processed over 1,000,000 pieces of outgoing US mail for [...]
ASHLine quit coaches are trained to help both women of childbearing age and especially pregnant women. Our Quit Coaches act as a personal trainer for quitting tobacco and help set goals, work toward a quit date, and provide support. Just like a personal trainer, a quit coach works with folks one-on-one to keep them on [...]
So far, there have been over a hundred cases of measles associated with Disneyland (including seven here in Arizona). We’re lucky no “third generation” cases have been found here (yet). Measles can take up to 21 days to develop in a person who has been exposed to the disease, so we’re not out of the [...]
Smoking during pregnancy remains a risk to the health of Arizona infants. The Health Status and Vital Statistics Report for 2013 found that 4.4% of Arizona moms smoked during their pregnancy. Smoking during pregnancy is associated with a significantly increased risk for many birth defects. A new article found that smoking during pregnancy is associated with [...]
If you're like my family, there are times when some of you don't get enough sleep. In fact about 30% of Americans don't get the number of hours of sleep we need to stay healthy. Now that everybody is plugged into an electronic device these days it seems to be getting worse. Electronic devices and even some night lights [...]
Tonight at 8 pm PBS American Experience will feature an episode called "The Forgotten Plague: Tuberculosis in America." Tuberculosis was the deadliest killer in human history prior to 1900. In fact, TB (then sometimes called Consumption) killed about 14% of all the people who ever lived prior to 1900. TB rifled through the US at the turn of the century, sometimes [...]
Food, water, air, shelter and sleep. Those are the Big 5 things that everyone needs. Everybody needs a good dose of restful sleep to stay healthy and thrive...but the amount of sleep changes throughout the lifetime. Last week, the National Sleep Foundation came out with some interesting and helpful recommendations for how much sleep folks need at various ages. When people don't get [...]
The new Healthy Heart Score developed by researchers at Harvard School of Public Health gives people an easy way to estimate their risk of developing cardiovascular disease based on simple lifestyle habits. The free web-based survey also gives users practical tips for improving their scores by incorporating heart-healthy habits into their daily lives. The calculator [...]
Leaders across Borders (LaB) is an advanced leadership development program funded by the U.S.-Mexico Border Health Commission. The idea is to build bi-national leadership capacity of public health, health care, and other community sectors to improve the health of communities in the U.S.- México border region. Right now (and through February 13) we’re looking for [...]
