Chalk Up Another Empower Award
This week the Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs gave us the National Best Practice Award for our Empower Program. As a refresher for those of you that aren’t familiar with Empower… it’s a program we started in 2009 that focuses on increasing healthy eating and active living in our licensed child care facilities… reaching over 200,000 children throughout [...]
The Worst is Over for Flu this Season
This year’s flu really packed a wallop all across the country. In Arizona we’ve had almost 250% more cases than last year so far. But the good news is, this week’s flu report shows we’re on the downhill slope. We’ve seen fewer new cases in the past couple weeks - but it’s not completely gone. So you should still stay [...]
Caveat Emptor
The younger you are, the more likely you are to get a tattoo. In fact, a recent Pew Research poll found that 40% of people between the age of 18 and 29 have one these days. But if you’re thinking about it or your friend or adult child is- there are some important things to consider. I’ve written about some of the risks [...]
Troubled Teens: At Risk and Not Overlooked
Our Vision at the Arizona Department of Health Services is ”Health and Wellness for all Arizonans”. Part of that Vision for folks living with behavioral health issues or a mental illness means achieving and maintaining self-reliance and independence. To get there, some individuals simply need outpatient services occasionally. Some need wrap-around community or home-based services. Others need more intensive treatment [...]
Hearing and Vision Screening
According to the CDC about 15% of school age kids have some hearing loss. Children who are hard of hearing will find it harder to learn vocabulary, grammar, word order, and other parts of verbal communication. Newborn hearing loss occurs in about 1 in 5,000 births- which is why it’s so important that AZ kids get a newborn hearing screening [...]
Preventing Hospital Associated Infections in AZ: New Performance Data
A new CDC report released this week gave a status update on the national Winnable Battle to reduce hospital associated infections. Not all medical procedures carry the same risk of infection, so the report uses something called a standardized infection ratio to compare infection rates among hospitals. It’s a complicated statistic, but basically, it divides the number of infections that [...]