Jessica Parke, Trends Assignment

Jessica Parke

HLTH 100

27 March 2013

Public Health Community Trends Assignment

            For this assignment, I called South Central Public Health District headquarters in Twin Falls, Idaho. This is the Public Health Center closest to my home town. Surprisingly, I was passed around from person to person, with little information given, but I was able to talk to two women who finally could help me a little: Mary Jensen, Public Health Program Manager of Epidemiology, and Karen Goodale, Director of Health Promotion and Preparedness. Combined, they were able to relate to me some of the top health trends in our area.

            1). Flu

            Mary was able to inform me a little about the flu trend happening right now in south central Idaho. Our area always seems to get hit pretty hard with the flu during the winter season. She informed me however, that the contraction rate has started to decrease, and they are seeing fewer cases. From previous experience living there, this trend is typical of a normal flu season. Most years, flu cases are very low during the spring and summer months.

            2). Tuberculosis (TB)

            This trend was rather surprising to me. I had never really known that TB could be a problem in our area. Mary informed me that for this year, active TB cases were above the norm. We both expressed how that was really interesting. She then informed me that the people who had contracted the disease had recently been out of the country, easing my mind a little.

            3). Diabetes

            Karen did not rank any of the trends that we talked about, but she was able to list off a few that she thought had seemed pretty prominent over the years. One of these was diabetes. I have been learning a lot in my public health classes about diabetes and this seems to be a trend that is ongoing all over the world, so this one wasn’t too surprising. My hometown is extremely small (604 people), and we do not have any major grocery stores, only gas stations. We have to travel an hour away to Twin Falls to get to a Walmart or Winco, and so many times unhealthy food is purchased at local gas stations, which I am certain does not help with diabetes.

            4). Overweight

            This trend was also not too surprising to me. For the same reason listed above, I think sugary drinks and snacks so readily available have really contributed to the rise in obesity and overweight population. I can tell a big difference between the size of school-age kids when I was in elementary and high school and today’s elementary and high school kids. Kids are eating unhealthier and spending less and less time exercising. The same can be said for much of the adult population as well.

            5). Teen Pregnancy

            This trend actually was a little surprising to me. I have always been a little naïve about this subject, because in my little town, very rarely have we had any teen pregnancies. However, I know that in other towns nearby, the teen pregnancy rate is the highest in the state. Karen made an interesting comment on this, as she said that even small-town Idaho and even Utah are not exempt from this trend. That helped me realize that this really is a big problem that is right at our door.