July 2, 2024
The Community Health Corner
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.
National Extension’s Climate Action Plan: The recently released Extension Climate Action Plan integrates climate action with Extension's other high-priority issues, such as broadband access, economic development, food systems, and health equity. According to the Extension Foundation, the plan helps to support the implementation of a comprehensive communications strategy to raise awareness about the Climate Action Plan and foster partnerships. The Climate Plan is available here.
Updated Recommendations for Breast Cancer Screenings: The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, now recommends mammograms every other year for women with average cancer risk at age 40 instead of 50. American Cancer Society screening guidelines recommend annual mammograms for women ages 45-54, while women beyond 55 can choose to have an annual or a biennial mammogram. Recommendations would apply to all people assigned female at birth with average risk of breast cancer, and those with a family history of breast cancer or with dense breasts. Recommendations about screening, breast cancer genetics and breast health are available at the National Breast Cancer Foundation’s website.
Extreme Heat Awareness Flyer and Media: The Public Health Communications Collaborative has prepared flyers, social media posts and graphics in English and in Spanish for Extreme Heat preparedness. These free, downloadable resources are available from the Collaborative here. According to FEMA, extreme heat in most of the United States is when high heat and humidity with temperatures above 90 degrees persist for more than 2-3 days. FEMA also has information resources for preparedness and response available on their website. Heat and other environmental risks that impact human and animal health are tracked through the Kansas Environmental Tracking data delivery website managed by KDHE. Learn more about environmental health at: https://keap.kdhe.ks.gov/Ephtm/
For more information, contact Elaine Johannes, ejohanne@ksu.edu; and Stephanie Gutierrez, smgutier@k-state.edu