Electronic Birth Certificate Rollout Going Smoothly
We rolled out a new electronic birth certificate system this week that will be a game-changer for public health. Our system (which took about 18 months to plan, create & launch) will help us collect better surveillance data for our Winnable Battles like obesity, tobacco use, substance abuse, and better data about birth outcomes that will help with our maternal and child [...]
Influenza Season Officially Arrives
Flu season is here! Parts of the country (mostly in the south) have had more intense flu activity in the last few weeks, and 25 states reported widespread flu activity for the week ending December 28th. Meanwhile, in Arizona we are seeing an increase in the number of lab-confirmed flu cases reported to ADHS- but 50% fewer cases than we [...]
Public Health Poem to end the Year
The Ambulance Down In The Valley A Poem About Public Health Prevention by Joseph Malins (1895) 'Twas a dangerous cliff, as they freely confessed, though to walk near its crest was so pleasant; but over its terrible edge there had slipped a duke and full many a peasant. So the people said something would have to be done, but [...]
Smart, Strong and Driven – Arizona’s 2013 babies
Arizona is on a great trajectory for success if you go by baby names. The most popular boy’s name in 2013 was Liam which means strong-willed warrior and the most popular girl’s name – Sophia – means wisdom. Liam, a form of the name William, jumped to first place from fourth last year, but it barely beat out Jacob in [...]
Home Visiting: An Evidence-Based Best Practice
Home visiting programs are highly effective at coaching new parents to be better parents. Home visiting is particularly effective in building skills needed to be an effective parent as well as providing support for breastfeeding, nutrition, child development, fussy babies, oral health, and access to community resources. Arizona has a long tradition of supporting home visiting. Arizona's coalition of partners is called the Strong Arizona [...]
Publishing Our Accreditation Success
As soon as the health department accreditation movement started in early 2010 we quickly recognized that statewide public health accreditation could substantially help us with our goal of achieving improvements in public health outcomes in AZ. Our first task was to scope out the resources we’d need to achieve statewide accreditation and then tap into some funds to make it happen. [...]