Monday, November 12, 2012

Good 'Ol Clark County


Arianne Swapp

These Public Health Trends come from Clark County, WA.  My hometown of Vancouver and Ridgefield both fall under this county, so it was fun to see what trends are especially prevalent in my area.

Prevention of Smoking
When researching this trend, I worked with Alan Melnick, MD who is a Health Officer for the Clark County Health Services.   Recently, a study took place on behalf of the Clark County services in the central area of Vancouver.  This study showed that about half of the rental complexes had a "no smoking" rule.  This is great news to the county health services because it shows improvement in community's overall view of smoking.  Though smoking is still problem, they are glad to hear that more and more areas are setting up "no-smoking" rules on their own.  By setting up these rules, it becomes clear that the public health representatives and other officials have made a positive influence in that specific area of health.  They are looking forward to improving this number by researching other areas as well and visiting those without smoking precautions. 

Flu
Seeing as it is flu season, the county health is really tackling this disease.  In order to make sure everyone can receive the vaccine, the health services have been setting up multiple stations at local places so that it can be more readily available.  Since the flu is a virus that can spread to many people after it infects one person, they are trying to publicize the vaccine's availability.   Since the flu comes around every year, they just have to remind the public of its presence.  Also, they are trying to reach out to people of lower social status to make sure they have opportunity  to receive the vaccine.  The representative  I associated with was Alan Malnick, MD who work as a Health Officer for the Clark County Health Services.

Outreach
For this trend, I conversed with Marni Storey who works for the Communicable Disease Prevent department for the Clark County Health Services.  This trend has to do more with getting others to help inform those around them.  Along with their crew-- who designate their time towards informing the public-- they are also trying educate and provide training for many more.  This helps them spread the news about public health and helps the county in overall health knowledge, especially since many of the areas in clark county are considered "rural."

HIV/AIDS Prevention
When discussing this trend, I worked with Marni Storey who works for the Communicable Disease Prevent department for the Clark County Health Services.  Like many other areas, the county is trying to improve the number of people infected with this disease.  Their general efforts are directed towards educating the youth as well as all other ages so that the spread can of this terrible disease can slow down.  They are also providing assistance to those who do have the virus and are assisting places of medical care, housing, mental health and substance abuse services in order to provide adequate support.

Water
With this particular trend, I associated with Jonnie Hyde who works for the Health Aging and Healthy Behavior  department for the Clark County Health Services.  This particular trend focuses on ensuring clean and safe water for everyone.  The county has been investigating complaints pertaining to the proper disposure of solid and hazardous wastes in order to assure the public that the water if uncontaminated.  In addition, county staff have been protecting groundwater and watching over the treatment of domestic sewage water so that this liquid waste does not infect the area's water source.  Though it may not be a concern to many, there are still quite a bit of people who go without clean water.  It is their duty as the county health services to provide clean water as well as prevent the chance of any contamination.

No comments:

Post a Comment