January 23, 2024
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.
Impacts of the Child Tax Credit: The Urban Institute posted a blog and fact sheet which provides new evidence on the impacts of expanding the Child Tax Credit and the consequences felt by working families related to the 2022 expiration of its expansion. The evidence shows that working-age adults with children were more likely than adults without children to face difficulty meeting basic needs in 2022, despite having higher family employment rates. The survey also showed that more than 1 in 4 adults living with children under age 18 reported problems getting enough food for their households in the previous year, and more than 1 in 10 had problems paying rent or mortgage costs.
Healthy for Life® Community Nutrition Grant Opportunity: The American Heart Association and Aramark launched Healthy for Life®, a community nutrition program that empowers people to make healthy food, nutrition and lifestyle choices. The primary goal is to further support the provision of quality nutrition education. It may also facilitate relationships with healthcare and public health organizations, which has been noted as important in the 2021 Cooperative Extension Framework for Health Equity and Well-being.
Application is now open for the Healthy for Life community nutrition grant for Cooperative Extension agencies. Together a maximum award of six grants with the value of $2,500 and two grants with a value of $7,500 will be distributed to support the implementation of Healthy for Life community nutrition programs.
Application deadline: February 28, 2024, 11:59 PST. Award recipients will be announced in mid-March 2024. To learn more about the criteria and key deliverables, see the application introduction. For additional questions about the grant opportunity, contact healthyforlife@heart.org.
Global Measles Threat Continues to Grow: Following years of declines in measles vaccination coverage, measles cases in 2022 have increased by 18%, and deaths have increased by 43% globally (compared to 2021). This takes the estimated number of measles cases to 9 million and deaths to 136,000 – mostly among children – according to a new report from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Learn more about global measles vaccination efforts here.
For more information, contact Elaine Johannes, ejohanne@ksu.edu; and Stephanie Gutierrez, smgutier@k-state.edu