August 6, 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.
Climate & Workforce Health: The Health Action Alliance and National Commission on Climate and Workforce Health are hosting the webinar Climate & Workforce Health: Addressing the Mental Health Impacts of Our Changing Climate on August 21st. Attendees will learn ways to fortify employees against eco-anxiety and other mental health impacts of our changing climate. The summit will provide insights from distinguished business leaders and public health experts who are at the forefront of efforts to mitigate the adverse mental health effects of extreme heat, poor air quality and severe weather events in the workforce.
National Healthy Aging Symposium: Join Trust for America’s Health and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion on September 26, 2024 for the National Healthy Aging Symposium: Innovation Across the Age-Friendly Ecosystem. The Symposium will explore successful innovations developed to improve older adult health and well-being in communities around the country. The event will build upon the successful and ongoing collaborations between aging services and public health that began at the first National Healthy Aging Summit in 2015. Policymakers, researchers, and professionals from across sectors will share their perspectives on important topics related to healthy aging through a series of panels covering topics like caregiving, social engagement, housing, transportation, brain health, and workforce. To register.
U.S. Deaths Due To Alcohol, Drugs, And Suicide: The new TFAH report, Pain in the Nation 2024: the Epidemics of Alcohol, Drug, and Suicide Deaths, found that a decrease in the alcohol-induced mortality rate led to a slightly lower combined rate of all U.S. deaths due to alcohol, drugs, and suicide in 2022, but the long-term trend of such deaths is still alarmingly high. The report includes data showing that between 2002 and 2022, combined rate of deaths due to alcohol, drugs, and suicide have increased by 142 percent from 74,003 deaths in 2002 to 207,827 deaths in 2022. Rates and trends for deaths due to substance misuse and suicide vary across population groups and states and regions of the country. While all population groups have experienced increases in substance misuse and suicide deaths over the last two decades, American Indian and Alaska Native people, Black people, and white people have higher than average combined rates for alcohol, drug, and suicide deaths. New Mexico, West Virginia, and Alaska had the highest overall rates of these combined deaths. The report includes recommendations for steps federal, state, and local policymakers should take to reverse the deaths of despair crisis.
For more information, contact Elaine Johannes, ejohanne@ksu.edu; and Stephanie Gutierrez, smgutier@k-state.edu