One in nine Arizonans have diabetes and it is the seventh leading cause of death in the United States, according the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There are more than 29 million people with diabetes in the United States. The disease affects men and women, people young and old, and people of all races, [...]
When I was younger, my grandmother gave me two books, and I don’t think she realized they ended up shaping my career. After reading Outbreak (by Robin Cook) and Level 4: Virus Hunters of the CDC (by Joseph McCormick and Susan Fisher-Hoch), I was hooked on working in public health. After learning more about what [...]
The Childhood Lead Program team: Brigitte Dufour, Amber Asburry, Melissa Tegarden and Stephen Grieco-Shapiro Every year the Arizona Public Health Association presents the Health Education Media Maker Yearly (HEMMY) Award to recognize achievements in health education. I’m happy to announce that our Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program and our Diabetes Program both won first place awards. [...]
Half of the adults in the United States are living with a chronic disease which includes heart disease, cancer, or diabetes. Chronic diseases are the leading causes of death in the U.S. The way to reduce this trend may just be a step away. Step It Up! The Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Promote [...]
This year marked the third year that our Division of Licensing Services and Healthcare Associated Infection (HAI) Program partnered with the InterMountain ESRD Network and others to provide a day-long educational session for end-stage renal dialysis (ESRD) providers in Arizona. More than 200 participants attended this year’s ADVICE Collaborative to identify data-driven opportunities to improve [...]
Ventanilla de Salud (Health Windows) is a program that improves access to preventive health care, health education, and public health screening at Mexican consular offices throughout the US. There are 5 Ventanillas in AZ (Douglas, Nogales, Phoenix, Tucson, and Yuma). The Ventanillas are operated jointly by the Department of Health of Mexico (Secretaria de Salud [...]
Today we published Arizona’s first ever comprehensive State Health Assessment. The objective of the State Health Assessment is to give Arizona’s public health and health care systems a clear tool to help drive future decision-making and resource allocation as we collectively design and implement evidence-based interventions to improve health and wellness outcomes across Arizona. The [...]
On previous Blogs I’ve shared information about Community Integrated Paramedicine. One of the most promising opportunities for Community Paramedicine is in working with hospitals to prevent readmission of patients with diseases like diabetes, asthma or congestive heart failure. It’s also a great opportunity for EMS providers to provide some coaching on other prevention initiatives including [...]
The new Surgeon General’s report on smoking called The Health Consequences of Smoking—50 Years of Progress: A Report of the Surgeon General adds diabetes, colorectal and liver cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, erectile dysfunction, age-related macular degeneration, and other conditions to the list of diseases that cigarette smoking causes. The report (released this week) concludes that secondhand [...]
Seems like anytime you hear a 100+ year old person being interviewed about the secret to long life they say “take care of your teeth and feet and drink cod liver oil”. For good reason. Good oral health is critical to a person’s overall health. Tooth decay and gum disease are linked with heart disease, [...]
