Slogans Kyle Willman

1. Be Wealthy, Eat Healthy!  

2. 5 a day, keeps the Doctor Away!

3. Run for your life, literally!

love life, love your body, and love what you eat!
If food is fuel then fuel it with high octane fuel!
Every meal is a choice, choose to live well

Tyler Sax

Work out to make health work!

Eat right and be bright!

Eat great to motivate!


Jennifer Sizemore

the slogans

Live like you love yourself

 Health and style are birds of a feather

Wisdom is when health and style thrive together. 

Caldwell, Idaho, Canyon County Public Health Trends

Rebecca Nazer

    

        Southwest District Health serves the six Idaho counties of Adams, Canyon, Gem, Owyhee, Payette, and Washington. The Public Health Official I spoke with was Laurie Boston works with SDWH as a Public Information Officer. 

We discussed the following:

Broadly, there is a rise in diabetes and obesity in our health district.

One of thing that SWDH provides is counseling, testing, follow-up result notifications, and treatments for sexually transmitted diseases. In which there is a continuously high number of Chlamydia cases. In September 2012 they reported 11 clients testing positive for Chlamydia in Canyon County with 72 cases reported from all providers within the county for the same time period.

More specifically, in 2012 were outbreaks in pertussis and cryptosporidiosis (crypto) cases. Which have nationally been increasing, but SWDH continues to have an increase in pertussis cases that is higher than the statewide and national incidence rate. As of October 27, 2012, the incidence of pertussis is 31.57 cases per 100,000 persons. Regarding Crypto, in August & September 2012, three times the expected number of Crypto cases were reported in Canyon County. As of October 27, 2012, the incidence of Crypto is 31.10 cases per 100,000 persons.

Despite the fact that their services are on sliding scales due to income, they have seen a decline in numbers of clients coming in for screening (annual) exams. It is believed that this is due to the economy and clients' fears that there may be a charge they can't pay.  Unfortunately, it also means that they are not receiving the preventive services that all women need; cervical and breast cancer screening and contraceptive services to avoid unplanned pregnancies.

Portland Oregon Public Health trends

Hanna Harris
I finally talked to to Laurie Smith who works for the Oregon Public Health Division as a public health nurse. Her title is Liaison to Local Health Departments. She told me four trends she has noticed in the Portland area.

1. Laurie said that on of the issues they are looking into how healthy communities are built on their environment. Health is built on more then just individual lifestyle, where an individual lives also has an effect on health. A few examples she gave are sidewalks so people can walk, availability of healthy food in poor neighborhoods, and tobacco-free policies that limit smoking in public. So what they are working on is improving the health of a neighborhood, so that the people have better health. I volunteered for a organization that built neighborhoods that provided a clean community and helped them grow their own healthy food.

2. Like in any city, as long as there are minorities, there are health disparities. As she defined it health disparities are "different racial and ethnic groups having different levels of health." Its a goal to rid portland of these disparities so that everyone can have good health, dispit being from different racial and ethnic groups. I know that health care reform is also an issue they are looking at. And by fixing the health care system, perhaps it can help get rid of health disparities.

3. Like a lot of cities obesity is a problem in Portland. Especially with childhood obesity. The number of children that are obese has increased over the years. Kids are less active and eat more. With obesity there is an increased risk for chronic heart disease, so as the number obese individuals go up, the number of individuals that develop chronic heart diseases will increase.

4. Laure said, "health care reform in Oregon is huge right now." This is true for the whole country with Obamacare. Health care is very expensive and good health care is not available for everyone. I guess the trend we can take from this, is that the health care in Oregon has worsened and has increase incredibly in price.

Public Health Trends- Utah

Jessica Bracey

I talked to a nurse and professor at the U of U.

5 public health trends: 

1. Utah has a rapidly aging population.  Utah is known as having a very healthy population, so they live longer compared to other states. A lot of people return to Utah to retire and be near their families for the rest of their lives.  Thus we have people who live longer have more challenges as their bodies age, such as dementia, frailness, caring for them and having a quality and useful life.  Older adults require specialized care from specialized caregivers.  There is a need for assisted living residences, determining if they can be cared for at their home or by family.  That becomes a big dilemma in some families and more home health care people to care for them and also hospice services.  

2.  Utah has an increase in population due to one of the highest birth rates compared to other states. We are saving babies at a younger viability.  As we save younger babies we also see an increase in disabilities that need to be cared for.   We have a part of society who have large families, thereby putting a strain on health professionals to provide services for them. Presently we have a great financial need in this area with too large of classrooms and underpaid teachers and staff.   Presently Utah spends less per student for their education than any other state.  Our ever growing population needs influences all areas of life.

3.  Utah's population grows from the influx of people coming here for jobs since Utah is employee friendly.  A lot of people decide to remain in Utah to be by family instead of living elsewhere, even at a lower wage.  

4. Utah has a great influx of diverse people.  We have growing communities of hispanic and Tongan nationalities, even a presence of Japanese who settled here after the internment camps in the 1940's.

5.  There is a need for increasing health care education and workers.  Those applicants are having to wait years to be admitted to their desired field.   

An issue that is affecting the health of our community is the increasingly poor air pollution because of our geography and growth in population.  This puts a strain on health care services since asthma, allergies and autism have been linked to and influenced by poor air quality.  

Public Health Trends in Boise

Public Health Trends in Boise, Idaho

Corianne Christensen

I spoke with Mark Murray who works as a Public Health Official for the Treasure Valley area in Idaho. He did a recent study different health trends this community sees.

1.    1.  Diabetes: One disease the Mark mentioned to me was diabetes. The percentage of people with diabetes has gone increasingly higher since 2003 to now. It is estimated that 8.0% of Idahoans have diagnosed diabetes. Some factors of the increase might be less college graduates, lower household incomes, and the diagnosis of elderly people. One thing that they are working on is helping those in the conditions above.

2.      2 .Obesity: Another health trend that Mark talked to me about was the lack of physical activity in our area causing an increase in obesity. He did mention that Idaho’s statistics were better than the nation’s but were going up steadily. A couple of issues he mentioned were the general lack of motivation to be physically active, more fast food restaurants, and he also mentioned that 34.9% of Hispanics were not physically active vs. 18.8% of non-Hispanics aren’t. He talked about just promoting healthy eating, being active and educated to help prevent obesity.

3.      3. Cigarette Smoking: 15.7% of Idaho adults are current smokers. Mark said that that number has decreased significantly since 2003 and that is due from campaigns for prevention. Some factors include younger age groups smoking, being unemployed, uneducated, and lower income households. Mark was pleased with the decrease from 2003, but wants to see the numbers go lower. It is easier to prevent younger kids to stay away from it than to wean adults off of smoking.

4.      4. Seat Belt Safety: A fourth issue that Mark mentioned was the lack seat belt use. Adults in Idaho were asked how often they wore seat belts and 23.9% of them said that they usually did not wear their seat belt. The studies show that these numbers might be related to men and younger children not being cautious enough. They also can relate back to those who are less educated and come from a lower income household. Wearing seat belts help prevent death, Mark and his team are hoping to promote in order to prevent.

5.    5.   Binge Drinking: In Idaho 13.2% of adults are binge drinkers. For women it is considered binge drinking to have four alcoholic beverages in one occasion in the last 30 days and for men it is five. Mark was concerned with this stat, which has been fairly consistent since 2003. Similar to the previous trends younger age groups are a factor for this trend as well as males and the unemployed. Prevention is the best for this trend. 

Public Health Community Trends

Andrea Wilson

                I called Cristie Chesler, a Public Health worker in Salt Lake County, who specializes in infective diseases. Right now a lot of her work is on Tuberculosis. As I talked with her she explained that Salt Lake County and Utah in general have a very low incidence level of TB but their cases tend to be more complex. This is because Utah has a very high rate of LDS missionaries and other people who have traveled to foreign countries. Upon return, these people do not have a skin test for TB and end up having it in a couple years. Many of these cases tend to be drug resistant which are a lot more complex and expensive to treat.

                Another trend we discussed is the prevalence. The results between a dog and being alone are not statistically significant because their confidence intervals overlap. The results between a friend and being alone are not statistically significant because their confidence intervals overlap. The results between a dog and a friend are statistically significant because their confidence intervals do not overlap. of STD’s. The three most common for Salt Lake County are Chlamydia, Gonorrhea, and Syphilis. I asked if there are any trends or groups of people who have higher STD rates in Salt Lake and she responded that for STD’s race and income level do not often have an impact, whether age group does. The leading age group for STD’s is early adulthood.

                Historically Utah has had high rates of people who refuse to vaccinate their children and themselves. This is a huge problem because it creates more people to be susceptible to diseases. Cristie Chesler considered this a trend of importance which needs to be taken care of.

                As a result from people not vaccinating their children, Pertussis is one of the most common infectious diseases in Salt Lake County. Children are not completely vaccinated for Pertussis but adults have the great opportunity to be vaccinated for Pertussis. Even though this is a disease mild among adults, it is crucial that they receive vaccinations to reduce the risk of transmission to children. Since children are not completely vaccinated against Pertussis they have a higher risk of getting it. This is especially dangerous because Pertussis is most severe among the younger population.

                Another common infectious disease in Utah is the measles. Unlike STD’s being common in a certain age group and TB being common among a certain lifestyle, Measles is common among health districts. Those who receive measles are infected mainly because who they associate with and whom they are around.   I found it very interesting to learn about the different health trends among my hometown and not only what is prevalent but also why.

Public Health Trends- Klamath Falls, OR

Emily Todd

Public Health Trends in Klamath Falls, Oregon

1. Access to health care. Klamath Falls is socioeconomically challenged and under served . There are two specific problems here—shortage of providers and people cannot afford to see them. Since of the socioeconomic status of the city, it is hard to attract doctors. In addition, some are very qualified doctors while others are not. Secondly, up to half of the patients have government assistance to pay for coverage while the other half has Medicaid and Medicare. 
2. Tobacco abuse. Being a cancer specialist, Doug sees many cancers related to tobacco use. He stresses that prevention is the most important thing to do. He also noted that this is a problem with many age groups and each gender—sees kids addicted to chew and even pregnant women who can’t give it up.
3. Drug abuse. There is a huge methamphetamine problem in Klamath Falls. Drugs are cheap and readily available. There is such a strong physical and mental addiction that it is hard to combat such a huge problem. Doug stresses again that prevention is the best option, especially to target the younger and rising generation.
4. Diabetes. This is because of the growing rate of obesity in the U.S. and Klamath Falls is not exempt to the trend. Doug stresses that diabetes is a pandemic and a problem everywhere. Exercise and dieting is how to combat problem, but more importantly prevention and education of risk factors.
5. Skin Cancer. Skin cancer is much more prevalent in recent years in Klamath Falls as people spend time outside unprotected. In addition to skin cancer, more cancers are increasing in prevalence. Doug says this could be because many cancers have no risk factors and people just disregard them. One way that this could be helped is by informing public about importance about getting screened/checked/etc.

Dr. Douglas Todd, M.D. Orthopedic Surgery, Otolaryngology

Colter Hulet; Pocatello Idaho

Public Health Trends

I spoke with Tracy Mcculloch, Community Health Director for the Southeast Idaho district of public health. Since my hometown is Pocatello, Idaho, she is the official representative covering my district. When I asked her what the top five trends were regarding public health in the area, she was quick to point out that their office receives much of it's funding from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. This money is mostly used for services such as educational seminars focusing on raising awareness of the need for better public health, however, they also use this money to take action with programs and services offered directly to the people who need it. Since most of this comes from the CDC, they mostly focus on the issues which are affecting the nation as a whole, but within this range there were definitely five topics which stood out.

The first topic which we talked about was diabetes. In Pocatello, Idaho, diabetes rates are very high, so they have many programs providing diabetes medication. They also provide health checks partnered with Idaho State University nursing students. The students go out to rural communities and provide free diabetes testing and education. They especially focus on educating people about healthy practices which can prevent diabetes.

Another massive stumbling block in the public health of Southeast Idaho is oral health. The dental hygiene there is dismal, and the office of public health speculates that it is due to the enormous lack of health insurance found there. People need funds to go to dentist, and without health insurance those funds are hard to come by. To combat this problem the Office of Public Health provides dental fluoride varnish clinics along with oral health education. They also partnered with the Idaho State University dental hygiene program to provide the annual “gift of a smile” day, giving kids free dental exams and care on a certain day every year.

Sadly, even the people of Southeast Idaho have high cancer rates. This is one of the largest public health concerns nationwide, and not even the hamlets of rural Idaho can escape its clutches. In fact, the people of the area are somewhat more at risk because they are so distant. They could contract a form of cancer and remain unaware for long periods of time since few make regular trips to the doctor for cancer screenings. For the Office of Public Health to combat this, they have a comprehensive cancer control program encouraging people to be screened for cancers frequently. By encouraging people to get screened, they are increasing cancer detection rates in an effort to stop cancer in its early stages and save lives.

Tobacco usage is yet another vice which plagues Southeast Idaho. Many are addicted to this vile drug, and it is difficult to kick the habit. The Office of Public Health focuses on prevention and helping people quit when dealing with the widespread tobacco problem. To this end, they provide tobacco cessation classes, and post literally thousands of ads for tobacco prevention with youth. These practices are intended to solve the current problem while stemming the flow of a new generation of tobacco addicts by encouraging them not to start smoking or chewing in the first place.

Another problem which requires direct intervention is obesity. This is the final problem which we discussed, and it is perhaps the hardest to combat. The solutions used by the Office of Public Health include community health assessments, checking community access to walking paths and bike routes, etc. They also check to see that healthy food options are present in schools and work sites. They check if employers encourage healthy behaviors such as walking breaks for employees. Then the Office of Public Health gives this information to school boards, city council members, and the employers who need to make changes for a healthier community, and follows up to be sure that changes are being exacted to decrease obesity.

So it's easy to see that Southeast Idaho has public health issues that need addressed, but I'm happy to report that the Office of Public Health is doing a fantastic job of following through. They provide a lot of informative seminars and visits to rural communities, they work with the local university to improve the quality of life for the average person, as well as the quality of the education of their future healthcare professionals, they even provide direct intervention and direct action to address the top five public health concerns of the area. Although it may be tough to see at times, public health really does make Southeast Idaho a better place.

Public Health Trends for Montgomery County, Maryland

Sources: Ronald Gress M.D. – Deputy Director of the National Cancer Institute and Branch Chief of the ETIB.  He referenced me to the County Health Report.

In Montgomery County Maryland the life expectancy is above the state average, as well as the United States. While this is the case, there are increasing occurrences in risk factors and diseases.

Breast cancer has been increasing in all populations, yet 50% more of African American women die than white women. African Americans and whites are twice as likely to develop lung cancer than Asian and pacific islanders. And men are more likely to develop than women. African American males are 50% more likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer than white and are twice as likely to die from prostate cancer.

Over 135 Montgomery County residents die from diabetes each year. And men are more likely than women to be diagnosed with diabetes. Diabetes is diagnosed two times more often in African Americans than any other race in Montgomery County.  

61% of men in Montgomery County are overweight. 7 out of 10 Hispanic and African American men are either overweight or obese. Obesity is lowest in Asian and Pacific islanders, and highest in African Americans and Latinos.  

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in all residents. High blood pressure and high cholesterol contribute to heart disease. African Americans die at a rate of 15% higher than whites from stroke. The heart disease rate of death is 50% more in males than females. One in four adults suffer from hypertension in Montgomery County. Rates of high cholesterol have increased in the County from 30% in 2005 to 39% in 2009.

Substance abuse is comparable to Maryland state except higher rates of alcohol and marijuana use. Another concern is that drinking in the age range between 12-20 have increased in the county. Young adults (18-25) have a three fold higher usage rate of marijuana than any other age group in Montgomery County.

I think the rates are lower than national averages because a high affluent population resides in Montgomery County, Maryland. Also, the NIH and NCI is in Montgomery County, benefitting the community and raising awareness of public health issues.

written by: Matthew Gress

Public Health Community Trends

Public Health Community Trends

Lauren Stanford

I spoke with Carol Ballew, PhD. She is the senior public health epidemiologist of Montana, within the Helena offices. She works for the Department of Public Health and Human Services. She was particularly helpful and shared with me the state’s Public Health Improvement Plan and their goals for the next five years.

1. Prevent, identify, and manage communicable diseases, particularly through immunizations during childhood and adolescence. Carol said that the primary issues they have with communicable disease are easily preventable with immunizations. The population where they most focus on encouraging immunization is with children. It is important that they focus on education and encouragement so that the parents realize the importance. Also, this connects with the next goal, promoting health of mothers and children.

2. Prevent, identify, and manage chronic diseases particularly through tobacco use prevention and education. Chronic diseases affect all of the United States. In Montana, they are most concerned with tobacco use, which influences many aspects of public health. By focusing on tobacco use prevention at early ages, beginning while children are in school, there is a better chance that it will not be as big of a problem when they are older. Part of this involves working with other organizations, such as schools and clinics.

3. Promote the health of mother, infant, children, especially through improved prenatal care. People may think that this goal is more applicable to a developing country. However, these issues are still important in the United States. It is necessary to focus on the health of these demographics, since they are so intertwined. Carol stated that their focus is to encourage prenatal care even earlier in the pregnancy, so it can be most effective.

4. Prevent injuries, focusing on preventing DUIs and encouraging seat belt use. Injuries are a major focus in Montana. DUIs account for a large segment of injuries and accidents. Seat belt use is also a simple thing, yet often overlooked by the general public. By focusing on education and awareness, these two issues will greatly influence public health in Montana.

5. Reduce exposure to environmental hazards, by focusing on the Clean Indoor Air act, or not smoking indoors. Carol stated that the Department of Public Health and Human Services works closely with the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health. They both have similar objectives in helping people become aware of hazards and working to comply with laws that have already been passed. Again, this goal is similar to chronic disease prevention and focusing on tobacco use. Again, public health officials need to be able to work with other departments to be most effective.

Health Trends of Cache County, UT

Health Trends of Cache County, UT- M. Tysen Nickle



In the Cache County area, Tobacco use is a strong concern. In many of the rural areas of the county, a higher percentage of adults use tobacco making it more accessible to the minors. This is probably the biggest push of the Bear River Health department. Their main goal is to reach out to the youth and educate them before they have a chance to use the substance. This is often done within the elementary schools.

Substance abuse is also a major concern of the Health Department. In the entire county, but especially in Logan and Hyrum, many different kinds of substances are abused-from alcohol to illegal drugs to prescription drugs. This is a harder program to push because the target demographics aren’t in one particular place like with the tobacco program. This program has a presence in schools, but is mostly found in large workplaces, stores and advertisements like billboards. The department helps run support groups to overcome these. They also run a few educational lectures for the public on the effects of substance abuse.

Injury Prevention is a broad area of focus for the Health Department. This ranges from keeping city parks functioning correctly, to helping bicyclists use helmets to keeping workplaces safe. One of the more successful endeavors over the last few years has happened in the rural communities. It is very common for most of the minors under 16 to use 4-wheelers as a means of transportation around the small town. This is slightly dangerous because they’re using a motorized vehicle on public roads without any education on driving. Over the last 5-6 years some of the more rural cities, like Clarkston, have ran an education course similar to a short Driver’s Education course to help educate the youth about the dangers of driving and how to drive safely.

Chronic disease is a large concern in Cache County, just like anywhere else. There are many different areas of focus for the Health Department in preventing Chronic disease.  These areas mainly focus on both educating the public and providing programs to help change behavior. Over the last ten years Cache county has spent a lot of time and money in developing a new trails system that includes several biking and walking trails. The sole purpose of this is to make safe, aerobic exercise accessible to the public. There are also several nutrition classes available to the public that work alongside many websites to help the public learn how to establish and maintain a healthy diet.     

The obesity prevention program run by Bear River Health Department functions very closely with the Chronic disease prevention programs. They educate the community about the benefits of health diets and regular exercise. They also educate them on the risks of not have a healthy diet and regular exercise.  Just like with the Chronic disease, they help make exercise accessible to the public with the new trails and also with new programs to keep the public active. Also, just like the other programs-the school system is used to create a basis of understand with the upcoming generation on the effects and prevention of obesity.

Monica Thunell-Health Promotion Specialist for the Bear River Health Department in Logan, UT