Public Health Alliance of CO Media Resources

Prescription drug take-back day coming up Saturday, April 28

DENVER—The Drug Enforcement Administration will hold its fourth National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day on Saturday, April 28, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.  Participating police and sheriff’s departments across Colorado will collect and safely dispose of unused, unwanted and expired household medications.
The take-back service is free and anonymous, with no questions asked. To find take-back locations in your area, visit the DEA National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day Web page and click on “Collection Site Locator,” or call CO HELP at 1-877-462-2911.
Authorized DEA take-back sites are coordinated with local law enforcement agencies so that prescription narcotics and other controlled substances will be accepted for disposal along with other prescription and over-the-counter drugs. The following items will not be accepted: needles and sharps, mercury (thermometers), oxygen containers, chemotherapy/ radioactive substances, pressurized canisters and illicit drugs.
More than 498 tons of medications were turned in at collection sites across the United States during the first three DEA National Prescription Drug Take-Back Days, including 18 tons collected in Colorado. These drugs have been removed from homes and no longer pose a danger of abuse.  Seventy percent of children who abuse prescription drugs get them from family and friends. Home medicine cabinets often provide easy access to the drugs they abuse/use.
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment encourages you to securely store medications in the home, just as you would other valuables. Keep track of the drugs you have on hand and dispose of expired or no longer needed medications. For disposal, seek out collection events, such as the DEA take-back day on April 28, or other local programs. The department operates the Colorado Medication Take-Back Pilot Project, with 10 Denver Metro area locations and two Summit County locations. Visit www.coloradomedtakeback.info or call 303-692-2903 for more information about the pilot project and additional disposal guidance. Please note that the Colorado Medication Take-Back Pilot Project does not accept prescription narcotics or other controlled substances.

U.S. Nominee Is Elected to Lead World Bank

WASHINGTON—The World Bank named Jim Yong Kim as its next president, maintaining a seven-decade U.S. lock on the post after the first challenge by candidates from other countries.

Dr. Kim said after his election on Monday that laying the groundwork for job creation would be his top priority, as the institution faces pressure to shift from making loans to supporting broader economic concerns.

"In every single country I've been to, they are really hoping private-sector growth can happen quickly so that jobs can be created," he said, in a telephone interview from Lima, Peru, where he was concluding a "global ... Click here for more!

Colorado Home Visiting Program Receives $3.7 million to improve early childhood health and development for at-risk kids

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment received $3.7 million from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services to support expansion of evidence-based home visitation programs for at-risk children. Colorado is one of 10 states splitting nearly $72 million in awards released April 3 by the Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program created by the Affordable Care Act.
These grants recognize states that have made significant progress in establishing home visiting programs and expanding capacity to reach more children. Home visiting programs provide health, child protection, early education and social services based on a family’s needs. Nurses, social workers or other professionals evaluate families in their homes and connect them to services that can improve children’s health, development and ability to learn.
 “Caring community professionals working with at-risk families can make a real difference in the lives and futures of Colorado kids,” said Dr. Chris Urbina, executive director and chief medical officer at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. “This Affordable Care Act investment allows us to continue our successful collaboration with dedicated community members to reach more children.”
Colorado has identified 15 urban and rural at-risk counties that could benefit most from the program. The department will use this Affordable Care Act funding to support state and local groups working to improve the health of mothers and babies, prepare children for school, reduce child maltreatment, improve parenting and improve coordination of community services and resources.
The Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program in Colorado is a collaboration among federal, state and local partners. Colorado partners include:
·        Invest in Kids – This nonprofit organization works with local communities to improve the health and well-being of low-income children and families by identifying, introducing, implementing and ultimately ensuring the success of research-based, proven programs. This includes the Nurse-Family Partnership, a nurse home visitation program for first-time, low-income mothers and their children.
·        Colorado Parent and Child Foundation – The foundation promotes two evidence-based home visiting programs, Parents as Teachers and Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters, that support high quality early childhood education programs, facilitate family initiatives to inspire parent involvement and school readiness,  and provide parents with child development and school readiness information.
·        Irving Harris Program in Child Development and Infant Mental Health (University of Colorado, The Children’s Hospital) – This program implements the Healthy Steps program, delivered during pediatric primary care well-child visits and augmented by home visits to support parenting and child development.
·        Head Start State Collaboration Office – This office supports the Early Head Start Home-Based Program to bring services to low income pregnant women, infants and toddlers.

Colorado Air Quality Control Commission to conduct public hearing in Pueblo to consider GCC Rio Grande’s request to modify air permit

WHAT:          A public comment hearing before the Colorado Air Quality Control Commission

WHEN:           Thursday, April 19, 6 p.m.

WHERE:         Pueblo Union Depot
                        132 West B St.
                        Pueblo, CO  81003
 
WHY:             GCC Rio Grande, Inc. has requested a modification of permit(s) issued by the Colorado Air Pollution Control Division to allow for the increased production of cement clinker from the kiln and the use of tire-derived fuel at the company’s Pueblo cement plant (3372 Lime Rd). The hearing is being conducted to seek the comments of any interested person regarding the adequacy of the preliminary analysis and whether the permit should be approved or denied.

NOTES:          The draft construction permit and preliminary analysis can be viewed at the Office of the County Clerk and Recorder, 215 W. 10th St., Pueblo, Colorado, 81003, during regular business hours or at the offices of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Air Pollution Control Division, 4300 Cherry Creek Dr. So., Denver, Colorado, 80246. The information also is available on the department website at http://www.cdphe.state.co.us/ap/airpublicnotices.html.

Health rankings put county 53rd among state’s counties

Las Animas County ranks 53 out of the 57 counties in Colorado in health rankings, according to a recent survey. Still, the county ranks highly in the quality of its environment.

The rankings, published online at www.countyhealthrankings.org by the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, are designed to “help counties understand what influences how healthy residents are and how long they will live,” according to its authors. The rankings look at a variety of measures that the researchers believe affect and indicate health conditions, such as the rate of people dying before age 75, access to healthier foods, air pollution levels, rates of smoking, obesity and teen births, and even high school graduation rates and income levels.

 

The study includes each of the 50 states. In Colorado seven of the  57 counties have no ranking because there is insufficient data. Kiowa County is the nearest county to Las Animas County that is unranked. Among nearby counties, Huerfano County ranks 57th, placing it at the bottom in health outcomes, while Baca County ranks 37th. Otero County ranks 52nd in the state while Pueblo County is ranked 49th. Castilla County is ranked at 43rd among the state’s counties, and Bent County ranks 50th in health outcomes.

 

Researchers synthesized information from a variety of national data sources to create the rankings. Data came from places including the National Center for Health Statistics and other units of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Dartmouth Atlas of Healthcare — using Medicare claims data — and the American Community Survey for 2005-2009. In addition to examining information about mortality rates and number of days people report being in poor or fair health (morbidity), researchers looked at factors that affect people’s health within four categories: health behaviors, clinical care, social and economic factors, and physical environment.

 

The different categories are given varying weight in how each figured into the formula to achieve a county’s overall health ranking, with mortality and morbidity rates having the greatest weight, and physical environment the least weight.

 

Las Animas County ranked at number 30 among Colorado counties in physical environment, which featured categories such as clean air, access to healthy foods and access to recreational facilities. Las Animas County comes in at number 50 among Colorado counties in the state’s rankings when it comes to morbidity measures such as how often residents feel they are in good health, physically and mentally.

 

Meanwhile the county ranks last in the state when it comes to health behaviors, which include adult smoking and obesity, excessive drinking, motor vehicle crash death rate, sexually transmitted infections, and teen birth rate. The county ranks better in two areas, ranking 42nd in clinical care and 48th in the area of social and economic factors. Clinical care factors include the number of primary care providers to the availability of diabetic and mammography screening to how many adults have health insurance. Social and economic factors range from education levels of residents to unemployment rates to single-parent households to children in poverty.

 

Douglas County had the best health ranking in the state, while nearby Crowley County ranked 56th.

 

 “The rankings really show us with solid data that there is a lot more to health than health care,” said Dr. Patrick Remington, director of the County Health Rankings project and Associate Dean for Public Health at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. “Where we live, learn, work and play affect our health, and we need to use the information from the rankings to shine a spotlight on where we need to improve so we can take action to address our problems.”

 

To help counties translate the rankings into action, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is launching a new program to help communities improve the health of their residents. Under this program — part of an initiative called Mobilizing Action Toward Community Health — grants to as many as 14 communities throughout the country will be offered to strengthen broad-based community efforts to improve health.

 

“It’s hard to lead a healthy life if you don’t live in a healthy community,” said Dr. Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, president and chief executive officer of the foundation. “The County Health Rankings are an annual check-up for communities to know how healthy they are and where they can improve. We hope that policymakers, businesses, educators, public health departments and community residents will use the rankings to develop solutions to help people live healthier lives.”

 

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation focuses on health and health care issues facing America. It describes itself as the “nation’s largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to improving the health and health care of all Americans,” working with a “diverse group of organizations and individuals to identify solutions and achieve comprehensive, meaningful and timely change.”

 

The University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute is the “focal point” within the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health “for translating public health and health policy research into policy and practice.”

 

Report ranks health of nation, Colorado needs improvement

Whether you smoke, dine out, exercise or see the doctor on a regular basis, where you live has everything to do with how healthy you are according to the latest health report by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

If you think Colorado is topping the charts when it comes to health, you may need to think again.

Denver County ranked 45th out of 57 counties statewide in terms of health.

"The factors we look at are smoking and obesity rate," Senior Vice President and Director of the Health Group at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, James Marks said. "But we also look at education levels, employment and the safety of our communities. This is where Denver could use some help. These things are broader than something the hospitals can do, everybody needs to get involved."

The second annual County Health Rankings report from the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is intended to give communities a roadmap to improve health.

Colorado residents can check online at www.countyhealthrankings.org to compare the health of their county with others in their state. Then they can work together to develop programs and policies that address health factors such as tobacco use, obesity, access to healthcare and healthy foods, education, employment, community safety and air quality.

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation President and CEO Dr. Risa Lavizzo-Mourey won't single out the best and worst counties.

"This is not a race to the top," Lavizzo-Mourey said.

She says even the healthiest counties can do better.

Study: Douglas County healthiest in Colorado; Huerfano ranks last

A study released Wednesday ranks Douglas County as the healthiest county in Colorado, while Huerfano County ranked last.

"We want to help people understand that where they live, work and play matters to their health," said Bridget Booske, a senior scientist at the Wisconsin Population Health Institute, which did the study along with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. "What we really want is for counties to look at what they did well and did not do well and roll up their sleeves and work with their communities to identify solutions."

The County Health Rankings ranked almost every county across the country, including 57 of Colorado's 64 counties, based on their overall health. Cheyenne, Dolores, Hinsdale, Jackson, Kiowa, Mineral and San Juan counties were not ranked because of insufficient data.

Some of the factors used in the ranking were the rate of people dying before age 75, the percentage of people who report being in fair or poor health, the number of days people report being in poor physical and mental health, and the rate of infants with low birth weights.

Eagle, Pitkin, Boulder and Summit counties round out Colorado's top five, while Huerfano County is joined in the bottom five by Crowley, Fremont, Montezuma and Las Animas. Denver ranked 45th of the 57.

"This report helps us to look at what areas of the state need special attention or exceptions to policy we have in place," said Sue Birch, executive director of Colorado's Department of Health Care Policy and Financing. "We can work on improving areas of weakness as well as learning from areas of strength."

Richard Vogt, executive director of the Tri-County Health Department, which serves Douglas County as well as Adams and Arapahoe, said that higher income and education were probably the main factors in the top ranking for Douglas County, which was ranked at the top for Colorado in last year's study. But he said that even counties with high rankings have areas to improve.

"I don't want people to think that if they live in counties ranked one or two that their problems are solved," Vogt said. "I personally feel that the underlying information behind the rankings is more important. The rankings are catchy, but in reality, we need to delve beneath them to find what's working and what's not working."

On the other end of the rankings, officials with Huerfano County believe that the statistics may be misleading because many residents go to neighboring Pueblo County for medical care.

"I see healthy people doing healthy things," said Bruce Quintana, the mayor of Walsenburg, the largest city in Huerfano County. "The numbers are kind of skewed, and I think we have better overall health than depicted."

Herding Colorado Health Indicators

Wouldn’t it be great if you could find data from the American Community Survey, Colorado Department of Education, Colorado Bureau of Investigation, CDPHE, and more all in one place? And search it by county? And download that data into Excel? Well, now you can.

CDPHE recently launched the Colorado Health Indicators website. This website provides county, regional and state-level data on a variety of health, environmental and social topics. The dataset was created as part of the Colorado Health Assessment and Planning System (CHAPS,) which is a standard process established to help local public health agencies meet assessment and planning requirements. The data are specifically designed to be useful for anyone who needs Colorado health data for a community health assessment or for other research purposes.

Read the full article here.

Cultivating Healthy Habits in Colorado Kids: Farm to School

From LiveWell Colorado

Nearly 850,000 students attend public schools in Colorado. On average, 111,061 of these students are served breakfast and 384,504 are served lunch at school on a daily basis.

Many of these students will find their only source of balanced nutrition in school-provided meals. This presents an enormous opportunity for Colorado schools not only to make a positive impact on the nutritional quality of these students’ diets, but also to help these children form healthy eating habits that will last a lifetime.

Local growers and producers can help Colorado schools realize this opportunity. By growing or sourcing local foods and introducing them into cafeterias and classrooms, Farm to School programs can help schools increase children’s access to fresh, healthy foods. Simply put, Farm to School programs create environments that will cultivate healthy kids.

As we observe National Farm to School Month this October, I am proud to introduce LiveWell Colorado’s new Colorado Farm to School Primer, a broad overview of Farm to School strategies designed to educate and inspire readers to learn more about how they can become a part of the movement to bring healthier foods to Colorado school children while enhancing Colorado's local and farm economies.

Please see this newsletter for the complete text.

Rocky Ford cantaloupe linked to Listeria outbreak

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Sept 12, 2011

DENVER – Today, Dr. Chris Urbina, chief medical officer and executive director of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, said, “People at high risk for Listeria infection should not eat cantaloupe from the Rocky Ford growing region. The department expects additional test results later this week that may help identify the specific source of the cantaloupe linked to the multistate outbreak.”

People who are at high risk for listeriosis are people age 60 and older; those with weakened immune systems from transplants or certain chronic diseases, immunosuppressive therapies or medications; and pregnant women. Healthy adults under age 60 rarely develop this illness.

 Eleven of Colorado’s 13 listeriosis cases now are linked to the multistate outbreak.

 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is coordinating the multi-state investigation with affected states, the Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety Inspection Service. Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment also is working with local public health partners on the investigation.

 In general, CDC guidance about Listeria advises that people can decrease their risk of Listeria infection by avoiding deli meats unless reheated to an internal temperature of 165 F, refrigerated pâté or meat spreads, refrigerated smoked seafood, and soft cheeses such as queso fresco and brie unless they are made with pasteurized milk.

 Consumers and food preparers should wash their hands before and after handling any melon. The surface of melons such as cantaloupes should be washed and dried with a clean cloth or paper towel before cutting. Cut melon should be promptly refrigerated at less than 41 F / 5 C (32-34 F is optimal for cut melon storage.) Cut melons left at room temperature for more than four hours should be discarded.

Eating food contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes can cause listeriosis, an uncommon but potentially fatal infection. Symptoms of listeriosis can include fever and muscle aches, and also can include diarrhea, headache, stiff neck, confusion and convulsions. Listeriosis also can cause miscarriages and stillbirths.

Antibiotics given promptly can cure the illness and prevent infection of a fetus. Even with prompt treatment, some Listeria infections result in death. This is particularly likely in older adults and in people with other serious medical problems.

For more information click here for the CDC's listeria page.