AAC F A M I L Y & F R I E N D S
ot too long ago I received an e-mail from a county judge. The e-mail said, “I am looking for ways to improve the overall health of our county. Incentives, gym memberships, walking and working our benchmarks, stress relievers, activities, and other ideas to improve the mental, physical, and emotional health.”
N
Based on what I have read, observed and experienced, these are exactly the things we all need to be looking for in order to improve the quality of life for the citizens of our counties and for our counties in general.
Our counties are diverse. The needs and workable solutions for one county are not necessarily the needs and solutions for another county. However, as my friend from the Arkansas Coalition for Obesity Prevention (ArCOP), Joy Rockenbach, said, “Healthier environments produce healthier people. And healthier people produce greater economic outputs, consume fewer health care resources, and lead better, longer lives.” We need to explore any and all ideas that would make our counties better places to live. Providing the components that would make a healthier environment in your county is a win- win scenario for all. If you need information and facts to support the need for improvements in the health of our citizens, go to http://www.
countyhealthrankings.org/app/arkansas/2016/overview. When you open the link, the title at the top of the page is: Find out how healthy your county is and explore factors that drive your health. Scroll down the page a bit. Under the maps of Arkansas counties, you will find some reports that can be downloaded — 2016 Arkansas Summary Report, 2016 Arkansas Data, 2016 Arkansas Health Outcomes Map and 2016 Arkansas Health Factors Map. The information in these reports caught my attention. The reports look at a variety of measures that affect the future health of communities such as high school graduation rates, access to healthy foods, rates of smoking, obesity and teen births. This helps to identify issues and opportunities for health improvement in your county. It also helps fuel the discussion among the leaders in your county so you can gather support for initiatives among government agencies, healthcare providers, community organizations, business leaders, policy makers and the public. I am sure that it would not surprise you to learn that the National Association of Counties (NACo) is involved in the movement to help counties develop healthier environments. At
http://www.naco.org/resources/programs-and-initiatives/ healthy-counties-initiative you will find NACo’s Health County Initiatives, which “aims to enhance public/private partnerships in local health delivery, improve individual and community health, and assist counties to effectively implement federal health reform.”
In addition to resources that can be found online, you can look around the state and find programs in counties
24
» » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » » »
How healthy is your county? right here in Arkansas that
making a difference. The Kickstart Cleveland County Community Development Initiative was awarded the Community SOAR Award this year for “exemplary vision, accomplishments, and commitment to the future of the community.” This program came out of the Rison Shine Downtown Development. It started with community gardens and the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service. People had a place not only to grow their own fruits and vegetables, but also to
are Wallet & waistline
Savings times 2
Becky Comet AAC Member Benefits Manager
learn from the extension service and each other. A small grant got them started with the materials to build raised garden beds. As the idea blossomed, ArCOP provided another grant for, among other things, more raised garden beds and to start farmers’ markets in areas that did not have access to locally grown foods. Cleveland County hosted the Arkansas Homesteading Conference to teach people to grow their own food. The event brought in more than 300 people from 22 counties last year.
The South Side Bee Branch Wellness Committee in Van Buren County recognized a need for local health care services in its area. As a result, the South Side Bee Branch School Board approved the use of district funds to renovate the superintendent’s former house into a school-based health center: Hornet Health Care. South Side Bee Branch School District partnered with Boston Mountain Rural Health Center to promote the concept of healthy youth development, reducing faculty/staff and student absenteeism, and to improve the health and well-being of students, faculty, staff and members of the community. This school-based health facility also serves as a resource center for wellness and prevention. All sports physicals, as well as pre-kindergarten and kindergarten physicals, are offered at no charge to students. Hornet Health Care staffs a full-time APN, LPN, receptionist and lab services. There are many communities/ counties in the state that have adopted similar measures to bring health care to areas in need.
These are just two examples of innovative ideas being implemented to fill the specific needs in counties. There are grants available. There are groups that want to help — ArCOP, the Extension Service and NACo, to name a few. Gather the leaders in your county, talk about your needs, come up with some ideas, and take action.
Contact me anytime. I will do my best to put you in touch
with the people who can help you and your county make a difference to your citizens.
COUNTY LINES, FALL 2016
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60