Elise Meiners
Polk County, Oregon. Randi Phillips

Polk county is proactive in their response to public health issues.They even have a facebook page for their community to be up to date on public health events and issues. I wanted to focus on the ways a community is responding to their public health issues.

Obesity  is the biggest issue for Polk County currently: their county has a higher obesity rate for teenagers than the state overall. They also have high rates of obesity for children and adults. In response to this problem they have created the 5-2-1-0 program as their main focus for the 2012 year.5 is eating 5 fruits and vegetables a day, 2 is the limit for screen time spent per day, having 1 hour of exercise per day, and 0 sugar-sweetened drinks in a day.In order to implement the program they will start with county employees, spread to schools, and eventually the entire community.

Another current issue is pertussis (otherwise known as Whooping Cough.) In October, the Polk County Public Health Department offered free Tdap vaccines for pertussis to encourage vaccination.This issue is not different compared to the national average. In fact everywhere the number of cases has almost tripled in comparison this time last year.

STDs and teen pregnancies are both growing issues. "The Place for Teen Health" is a place where teens can be screened for HIV and other STDs, have pregnancy tests, learn about prevention, get immunizations, etc.
This place allows teenagers to become educated as well as have access to free/low cost teen health services. To supplement, they have provided documents for parents to learn more about the current issues their teenagers face and how to educate them to prevent STDs.

Polk County also has a Tobacco Education and Prevention Program. Though the state of Oregon has done things in prevention of tobacco use, they have also funded the program for the community. This program is working on providing community tobacco and smoke-free policies. There is a barrier with those who fund and make policies so they are actively trying to educate them and use media to change social norms.
They have a very accessible help line and website as well as frequent events to promote a smoke-free life.

As it is in most places, the incidence and death rates of chronic diseases are high. Heart disease in Polk County exceeds that of the state of Oregon and was the leading chronic disease cause of death. In reducing the amount of obesity, they hope to also decrease the prevalence of heart disease.The incidence of breast cancer was also high. Recently they partnered with a local business to provide screening for breast cancer to help local women become more aware.