Category Archives: community health

Homelessness Among Individuals with Disabilities: Influential Factors and Scalable Solutions

By Erin Vinoski Thomas, MPH, CHES, Health and Disability Fellow, NACCHO; and Chloe Vercruysse, MBA

This post originally ran in NACCHO Essential Elements blog.

People experiencing homelessness lack sustainable access to housing and instead turn to emergency shelters, transitional housing, or places not meant for overnight residence. In the Unites States on a single night in January 2018, 552,830 people experienced homelessness; between 2.5 and 3.5 million people experience homelessness over the course of any given year. Housing is an important determinant of health, and those who experience homelessness are at greater risk for health challenges. Continue reading →

Big Data Offers Big Insights into Links Between Environment, Heart Health

By Dr. Cavin Ward-Caviness, Principal Investigator (Computational Biologist), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, ORD, NHEERL, EPHD, CRB

This post originally appeared on the EPA blog.

Air Quality Awareness Week, April 29–May 3, is a perfect time to think about how far we have come in understanding how air pollution affects the cardiovascular system. As a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) scientist studying heart disease, I am very excited about current and future research in this area. Though the burden of heart disease on our society remains high (see the American Heart Association 2018 Statistics on Heart Disease and Stroke), we have only to look at the promising lines of current, cutting-edge research to find reasons to be optimistic about the progress we are making in our understanding and treatment of heart disease. Continue reading →

NACCHO CEO Releases Statement on Ongoing Measles Outbreaks

By Lori Tremmel Freeman, NACCHO CEO

“Yesterday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed there have been 626 individual cases of measles diagnosed across 22 states in the United States since the first of this year. We are on track to have the highest number of measles cases in the United States in 25 years, and for man this disease of the past is becoming a threat of the present.

“626 cases are far too many. These cases are not just numbers—they represent sick children, missed days of work, and an incredible financial strain on our tax dollars that must be pulled away from other public health priorities. Continue reading →

NACCHO Highlights Need for Greater Support for Local Health Departments to Combat Rise in STDs

STD Awareness Month is an opportunity to raise awareness about Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs), also referred to as Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs), with local health departments and with local and national policymakers, stakeholders, and the public. The National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO), the voice of the nation’s nearly 3,000 local health departments is working diligently to support their members’ work to address rising STD rates across the country and to implement innovative projects, such as its Express STI Visits Initiative, to provide new ways to link individuals to testing and treatment. Continue reading →

January Is Birth Defects Prevention Month: Are Local Health Departments Ready?

Q&A with NACCHO Board Member Sandra Elizabeth Ford, MD, MBA Director of the DeKalb County Board of Health

A baby is born with a birth defect in the United States every 4.5 minutes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Birth defects are defined as any structural changes present at birth that affect how the body looks, works, or both, and they can vary from mild to severe. While not all birth defects can be prevented, there are concrete steps pregnant mothers can take to increase the chances of giving birth to a healthy baby. In honor of National Birth Defects Prevention Month, the CDC released a resource guide providing pregnant moms tips for preventing birth defects. Continue reading →

Preventing HIV Perinatal Transmission and Congenital Syphilis in Broward County Florida

The following Model Practice was submitted by the Florida Department of Health in Broward County. To access this Model Practice and to view the full application, click here. NACCHO is currently accepting applications for the 2018–2019 Model Practices Program until December 12. Learn more and apply today.

Broward County, Florida has a population of approximately 1.9 million people and hosts an estimated 10 million visitors each year. It is a very diverse community with residents from 200 different countries and nearly 130 languages spoken throughout the county. Minorities account for nearly 59.5% of the population, making it a minority/majority county. Continue reading →

Implementing Quality Improvement to Address Low Adolescent Vaccination Rates

By Maria Stock, Fairfax County Health Department, VA

This article originally ran in NACCHO’s Stories from the Field.

When the opportunity to join the third cohort of the NIPA Quality Improvement Learning Collaborative arose, the Fairfax County Health Department (FCHD) joined to help address challenges related to adolescent vaccination rates.

A couple years ago, Fairfax County was struggling with low HPV vaccine initiation and completion rates, and the health department was considering how to initiate a quality improvement (QI) project targeting adolescent vaccination. In 2016, we were given the opportunity to join the third cohort of the National Immunization Partnership with the APA (NIPA), a large-scale, QI Learning Collaborative designed to prioritize HPV vaccination at every adolescent visit. Continue reading →