October 31, 2023
The Community Health Corner
Submitted by Stephanie Gutierrez
The National Extension Framework for Health Equity and Well-being recommends using community development strategies and health literacy programs to ensure that everyone has a fair and just opportunity to be as healthy as possible. The following resources help us improve well-being for all, and achieve Healthy Kansas 2030 and Healthy People 2030 objectives.
Healthy Schools Campaign: With new guidance and encouragement from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid policy, states can allow school districts to bill Medicaid for all health services provided to all Medicaid-enrolled students. A new report from Healthy Schools Campaign identifies the 25 states that so far have taken action to increase student access to — and funding for — school health services. Learn more here.
Addressing Racism as a Public Health Crisis: A new de Beaumont research brief analyzing data from the 2021 Public Health Workforce Interests and Needs Survey (PH WINS) provides the first exploration of government public health employees’ views on addressing racism as a public health crisis, how much they have been involved in such efforts, and the resources and supports they believe they need to take on racial justice work within public health agency contexts.
Going Beyond BMI: The National Academies Roundtable on Obesity Solutions hosted the second workshop in its 2-part series "Exploring the Science on Measures of Body Composition, Body Fat Distribution, and Obesity" to explore communications strategies and solutions to improve messaging around obesity and adiposity. Speakers highlighted approaches to communicating the definitions and diagnoses of obesity, addressed weight bias and stigma, and discussed the challenges in cultural perceptions. Sessions focused on ways to mitigate misinformation and for providers to shift to a health-centric approach in obesity treatment. Click here to read the Communicating About Body Weight: Proceedings of a Workshop–in Brief.
For more information, contact Elaine Johannes, ejohanne@ksu.edu; and Stephanie Gutierrez, smgutier@k-state.edu.