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Maria Ramirez is one of the fortunate ones. She's lived for more than 10 years with her family in ZIP code 94621 in Oakland, one the East Bay neighborhoods hardest hit by home foreclosures. But she fought back when Wachovia Bank began foreclosing on her house in 2009, and won an affordable loan modification. Her victory doesn't only secure stable housing for Ramirez and her family. In a little-discussed aspect of the foreclosure crisis gripping the nation, it also protects the Ramirez's long-term mental and physical health.
Hoping to spark a discussion on banning smoking in Bullitt's restaurants and bars, the Bullitt County Health Department unveiled a study showing how unhealthy secondhand smoke is in Bullitt's businesses.
Local restaurant and bar employees, though, are mixed on what action, if any, the county should take.
Could Incentives Prompt Communities to Implement Policies Shown to Improve Health?
The September 2010 edition of Preventing Chronic Disease—a journal of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention—features a set of essays and articles examining different ways to encourage communities to adopt policies that have been shown to improve health.
Portsmouth isn't the healthiest city around. The city recently ranked 118th of 132 places in Virginia, according to a County Health Rankings study.
Rates of stroke, heart attack and obesity are higher here than in many other Virginia communities, according to Amy Paulson, director of Eastern Virginia Medical School's Consortium for Infant and Child Health.
To help turn the tide, the city recently kicked off "Healthy Portsmouth," a community initiative where citizens brainstorm ways to improve public wellness.
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Partners Issue Three "Health 2.0 Developer Challenges"
Earlier this summer, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Health 2.0 announced the first ever Health 2.0 Developer Challenge—a competition for software developers interested in building tools to help people understand and apply community health data, applications that inspire physical activity, applications that turn patient data into useful services for patients, and tools for medical providers. Health 2.0 also invited government agencies, academic groups and other “data aggregators” to submit specific “challenges”—contests that take advantage of available health data and tap into the expertise and creativity of the developer community to help translate health data into action that helps people be healthier.
In a bid to cut Baltimore's high infant death rate, a new public health campaign is hammering home a message to prevent more loss: Babies should sleep alone on their backs in a crib.
Driving that message will be some poignant representatives: local mothers who have lost their children. Their faces will be on billboards and their voices will be in radio spots. There will be a video shown in maternity wards, some speaking and some door-knocking.
Have you been trying to give up smoking, but just haven't found the right motivation? Nothing seems to work, so you keep smoking. What if someone offered you $2,500 to quit smoking next month? Would that help?
The Greene County Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Coalition (GCTPC) announced earlier this week that it, along with the state coalition, has launched "Quit Now Indiana" -- a statewide "stop smoking" contest offering $5,000 in cash prizes that is designed to encourage Hoosiers to quit using tobacco.
Residents in Halifax County weren’t too thrilled to find out where they call home ranks 96 in the state as one of the least healthy counties. In response to the MATCH — a study by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute — the Halifax County Health Department presented “For a Healthier Halifax,” at The Centre at Halifax Community College. The forum was designed to inform members of county government, economic development, health care and health program workers, and the community at-large about what’s being done to improve Halifax County’s health rankings and ways the community can become involved in making improvements.
In anticipation of the 2011 release of the County Health Rankings, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation wants to hear from you about the steps communities can take to help all individuals lead healthier lives. For the next few days, until August 6, the Community Health Action Forum—an online discussion board—will be open for your suggestions on how communities can use the County Health Rankings as a catalyst to start, expand or renew efforts to address the social, economic, environmental and behavioral factors that affect health.
Los Angeles County residents are living longer than ever — and about than 2.6 years longer than the average American — with a life expectancy of more than 80 years, public health officials announced Tuesday. But economic and racial disparities persist, with some minorities and low-income residents dying younger than wealthier neighbors.
