Last year I blogged about a grant sponsored by the Arizona Developmental Disabilities Planning Council to help folks with developmental disabilities and their families become self-employed by starting their own cottage industry food business. At the end of last year, this funding was awarded to the Southwest Autism Research & Resource Center, which has developed [...]
The work we do often doesn’t get a lot of fanfare. Much like police who respond to hundreds of calls a week, public health workers diligent work to protect the public from health threats – we just don’t respond with lights and sirens and there aren't any TV shows that celebrate our work. I try [...]
Strategic community planning is an effective tool to improve population health. That’s why organizations like the Livable Communities Coalition are so important as they help Arizona communities to become places that improve those social and environmental determinants of health that make such a big impact on population health and public health outcomes. But how do [...]
Continuing with the success of last year’s landmark national tobacco education campaign- the CDC is launching “Tips from Former Smokers” which will run in Arizona through the end of June. The media campaign showcases the real and devastating effects of smoking & secondhand smoke. The ads feature people with smoking-related health conditions and candidly describe the [...]
I’m happy to announce that I’ve permanently appointed Cory Nelson as our official Deputy Director for Behavioral Health. He’s been serving in the Acting capacity since August of ‘12 and has shown great skill and leadership in the position. He’s been very successful working with our leadership and our Agency team as well as our [...]
The American Academy of Pediatrics put out a new policy statement called “Planned Home Birth” this week. The Policy Document summarizes the standards of care for newborn infants born at home. It’s designed to help pediatricians provide supportive, informed advice to women considering home birth. The AAP Report says they agree with the American College of [...]
A city’s General Plan is one tool for communities to define how they want their city or town to grow and improve population health. Currently, Phoenix, Mesa, Tempe, and Scottsdale are updating their General Plans, and each city has a variety of resources that give community members the opportunity to share their opinions and get [...]
The March edition of the Association of Maternal and Child Health Program’s Issue Brief highlights the great strides Arizona has made in decreasing neonatal deaths since the inception of our High Risk Perinatal Program/Newborn Intensive Care Program. When the program started in the 1970s, 1.8% of neonates died within a month of being born. As a [...]
Guest Blog by Claudia Sloan; Communications, Cultural Competency, Workforce Development in the Behavioral Health Services Division Today is the beginning of Mental Health Awareness Month... and in honor of that the Arizona Diamondbacks in collaboration with the Mental Health Awareness Coalition is hosting an event during tonight's D-backs game against division rival San Francisco Giants. At the [...]
Guest Blog from Ken Komatsu, State Epidemiologist With over 1 billion people crossing international borders each year, vaccine preventable diseases not usually found in Arizona, can arrive at any time. Earlier this month a young child from Pima County became ill with a rash illness while visiting Asia. This region of the world has had [...]
