With an eye toward improving health across the state of Arizona, ADHS uses a community assessment process and partner engagement to build health improvement plans. In 2015, ADHS and community organizations unveiled the first 2016-2020 Arizona Health Improvement Plan (AzHIP). The 2016-2020 AzHIP has made a great impact as more than 350 unique action items [...]
Publishing a new five-year Arizona Health Improvement Plan (AzHIP) this week marks an important milestone in the state of Arizona’s journey toward improved health. I’m pleased to share the plan and look forward to providing updates as we work toward its goals. Building on the success of the first Arizona Health Improvement Plan, which covered [...]
A new report was released by the Trust for America's Health (TFAH) that shows 29.5 percent of Arizona adults are obese, ranking our state 34th in the 50 United States and the District of Columbia. We are tied with Alaska and Nevada at that ranking. Nine states have adult obesity rates above 35 percent in [...]
The Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) is excited to announce we have published the 2019 Update to the Arizona Health Improvement Plan (AzHIP). The purpose of the AzHIP is to describe how ADHS and our community partners are working together to improve the health and wellness of all Arizonans. Receiving annual updates, the AzHIP [...]
Today marks the start of Arizona Public Health Week and National Public Health Week, a recognition of the work public health does behind the scenes to improve the overall health of our communities. Aligned with National Public Health Week's 2019 focus on Creating the Healthiest Nation, the State Health Assessment (SHA) examines the health of [...]
February is an ideal time to encourage our families, friends, and communities to be involved in heart health. With every heartbeat, blood is pumped through 60,000 miles of blood vessels, delivering important nutrition and oxygen to organs and tissues. Cardiovascular disease, including heart disease and stroke, remains the leading global cause of death with more [...]
Every day, public health works to keep Arizonans healthy and well by promoting good choices like healthy eating, regular physical activity, smoking cessation, vaccinations, and injury prevention through seatbelt and helmet use. We know that these choices lead to good health, but we also know that it's not always easy—or even possible—to make these choices. Many factors, including something known as [...]
The Arizona Department of Health Services just released a report on suicides and self-inflicted injuries in Arizona over the last decade, based on information in death certificate and hospital discharge databases. Understanding suicide rates over time gives our communities and partners information about populations to target for intervention. Reducing suicide is one of the leading health priorities [...]
For the first time in 10 years, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has updated national physical activity guidelines with evidence-based recommendations for everyone ages three and up to get the physical activity they need to stay healthy. I am excited about these updated guidelines as they support actions outlined in the [...]
When it comes to the battle of the obesity epidemic, Arizona is doing better than many states, but obesity rates here and across the country are still alarmingly high. New data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that 29.5% of Arizona adults are obese, ranking our state 30th in the nation. This year’s Arizona obesity [...]
