The Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) launched the first Arizona Health Improvement Plan (AzHIP) in March 2016. The purpose of the AzHIP is to describe how ADHS and community partners work together to improve the health and wellness of Arizonans. The AzHIP highlights 17 comprehensive health issues that the state hopes to improve by the Plan’s [...]
Diabetes is a serious health condition attributing to nearly 14,000 Arizona emergency department visits and 11,000 local hospital admissions in 2016. Diabetes, the sixth leading disease-related cause of death in Arizona, is also a major risk factor for heart disease and stroke. Uncontrolled diabetes can lead to significant disability including blindness, kidney failure and amputation. In [...]
During the first full week of April each year, the American Public Health Association brings together communities across the United States to observe National Public Health Week as a time to recognize the contributions of public health and highlight issues that are important to improving our nation's health. This is a great week to showcase [...]
For years, it has been recommended that everyone consume less sugar. New information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention gives a clear picture of just how much sugar our kids are getting from sugar-sweetened beverages. Almost two-thirds of the young ones and teens (ages 2 through 19 years) are drinking at least one [...]
Tooth decay (cavities) is one of the most common chronic conditions of childhood in Arizona. Untreated tooth decay can cause pain and infections that may lead to problems with eating, speaking, playing, and learning. In 2015, the Bureau of Women’s and Children’s Health, Office of Oral Health completed the Healthy Smiles Healthy Bodies Survey, a [...]
The purpose of the Arizona Health Improvement Plan (AzHIP) is to move the dial on important health outcomes and it is an important component of Public Health Accreditation. A lot has been going on behind the scenes to move us forward in the accreditation process. Below is an update of the work we have done [...]
Many Arizona residents live in food deserts, which are areas that lack healthy, affordable, good-quality food. Having access to nutritious food requires that food be available in the community and that households can afford it. In Arizona, twenty-one and a half percent of households with children are food insecure. Childhood food security and childhood obesity [...]
The Arizona Health Improvement Plan (AzHIP) Steering Committee, an advisory group of 20 statewide leaders (which I'm fortunate to co-chair), met last week to discuss progress on the working draft for the AzHIP and Arizona's leading health priorities. As a refresher, the purpose of the Arizona Health Improvement Plan is to move the dial on important [...]
Az Health Improvement Plan Paying Dividends We made progress this week on one of our key Arizona Health Improvement Plan (AzHIP) objectives: To improve access to well care in underserved areas of Arizona. This week the Governor signed Senate Bill 1194 which enhances our State Loan Repayment Program by expanding the types of providers who can receive loan repayment assistance, increasing [...]
Before I started working here in ’92 I spent a year backpacking in southern Asia with my now wife (then my girlfriend). Wherever we went in China we’d see seniors in the parks or village squares doing Tai Chi in the morning. In a village it might be a group of a dozen folks, and [...]
