October 18, 2022
The Community Health Corner
Submitted by Stephanie Gutierrez
Community health uses science-based approaches for the greatest health benefit to the greatest number of people by addressing the social, economic and structural drivers that impact everyone’s health. The National Extension Framework for Health Equity and Well-being recommends using community development practices to ensure that every person has the opportunity to "attain his or her full health potential" and no one is "disadvantaged from achieving this potential because of social position or other socially determined circumstances." The following tools and resources can be used to improve health equity and well-being by working with communities to achieve the nation’s Healthy People 2030 objectives.
READ NOW: Recently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) released a final report summarizing the findings of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) exposure assessments (EAs) from ten sites. The report summarizes levels of PFAS in blood and urine from residents living in locations known to have had elevated levels of PFAS in their drinking water near current or former military bases and compares results to national PFAS levels. PFAS blood levels are shown by age, race/ethnicity, sex, number of years living in the community, drinking water consumption patterns, and other exposure parameters. The report also presents results from household dust and tap water samples and explores relationships between blood results and environmental sampling data.
DISCOVER NOW: The Community Preventive Services Task Force (CPSTF) recommends Healthy School Meals for All to increase participation in the U.S. National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program and reduce school absenteeism. Participation in these programs is associated with reduced food insecurity, improved nutritional quality of students’ diets, and improved academic outcomes.
USE NOW: The Forum on Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders and the Forum for Children's Well-Being at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine recently released Suicide Prevention in Indigenous Communities: Proceedings of a Workshop. This resource highlights a three-part virtual public workshop on April 26, 2022, May 13, 2022, and June 10, 2022, that examined suicide risk and protective factors in Indigenous populations, discussed culturally appropriate and effective suicide prevention policies and programs explored existing data systems and how data can be used for tracking suicide rates, and considered opportunities for action.
For more information, contact Elaine Johannes, ejohanne@ksu.edu, and Stephanie Gutierrez, smgutier@k-state.edu.