Hello!
Welcome to the new members of Live Well Allegheny!
The campaign to make Allegheny County the healthiest county in the nation continues to grow! Shaler Area School District announced their commitment to the Live Well Allegheny campaign on January 17th at their all staff meeting and employee wellness fair. We also recognized the Township of Pine as a Live Well Allegheny Community on January 19th.
Also on January 19th, we announced four new Live Well Allegheny Workplaces, including Adaigo Health, No Crayon Left Behind, Veterans Leadership of Western PA and Babb, Inc. Lastly, we welcomed Nicky’s Thai Kitchen to the Live Well Allegheny campaign on the following day.
Thank you to everyone who participated in the first Live Well Learning Collaborative meeting! If you are interested in facilitating a workshop in the future, please reach out to Erica Bryson at (412) 247-7964 or erica.bryson@alleghenycounty.us.
Do you have an event coming up? Please let us know so we can add it to the Live Well Allegheny event calendar. Contact Marie Fontelo (Marie.Fontelo@AlleghenyCounty.us) with details. Please also check the partner resources page of the web site for additional resources.
Karen Hacker, MD, MPH
Director, Allegheny County Health Department
Campaign Corner
During the Live Well Learning Collaborative meeting, participants provided great feedback on ways Live Well Allegheny can better support your organizations. Communication was a common theme. Please check out the materials provided on our new social media page!
In November, the Board of Health unanimously passed regulations to ban the use of electronic cigarettes in indoor public places where traditional cigarettes are not permitted.
Regulations will now be reviewed by County Council. A public hearing will be held on Monday, February 6, 2017 at 5 PM at the Allegheny County Courthouse. If you have an interest in speaking, please register beforehand.
Information about the regulations can be found here.
Please join the American Heart Association and Live Well Allegheny for the first ever Challenge: BP. We will be hosting an information session on February 9th at 5pm at the Hosanna House, 4th Floor conference room. Free parking and refreshments will be provided.
Partner Updates
Healthy Out of School Time (HOST) is a partnership of the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC and fitUnited. HOST sites assess their environment, create action plans, and implement changes to improve physical activity and nutrition.
Interested in learning more? Check out the Lunch and Learn at the United Way Offices on Tuesday, February 7th at 11:30am.
On January 12th, the Community College of Allegheny County announced that the Board of Trustees approved a smoke-free policy that will prohibit the use of smoke and tobacco products on college property by students, staff, faculty and administrators. The policy, which also prohibits the use of electronic cigarettes and vaping devices, went into effect for the spring 2017 term.
Please join Let’s Move Pittsburgh (LMP) at the next Champion Schools Meet Up at 3:30pm on Monday, February 13th at Washington Elementary School (735 Washington Rd, 15228).
Attendees will have an opportunity to learn about mini-grant program and the upcoming round of applications. For more information, please visit the LMP website.
Please join Pennsylvania Action for Healthy Kids, Let’s Move Pittsburgh, and Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank for a School Health Team training day. The workshop will be held on Wednesday, March 1st from 9-3PM. It will provide the knowledge and resources to provide a healthy school environment. Registration closes on February 14th.
Attention Live Well Allegheny Workplaces!
Sustainable Pittsburgh is hosting a Green Workplaces Challenge workshop series. The second workshop will be held on February 24th, 2017 from 8-11am. Please visit the website to view previous agendas and learn more about 2017 workshops.
In an effort to increase resilience of vulnerable communities, the Resilience Generation (ReGen) program is an opportunity to receive technical assistance and direct financial support through targeted land use interventions, strategic data collection, community capacity building, and ongoing partner collaboration.
Applications for the next round are due March 3, 2017.
What’s Happening in Public Health
More than 75% of the sodium Americans consume comes from processed and restaurant foods—not the salt shaker. Reducing sodium intake requires increased availability of lower sodium packaged and restaurant foods. The government, industry, community groups, and consumers must work together to reduce sodium content in the food supply.
Please consider participating in the Public Health Institute’s Dialogue4Health webinar to learn more!
The American Lung Association (ALA) recently released the 2017 State of Tobacco Control. Did Pennsylvania make the grade?
Check out the report and strategies to combat tobacco use at the ALA website.
March is National Nutrition Month designated by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. The campaign focuses attention on the importance of making informed food choices and developing sound eating and physical activity habits.
The theme for 2017 is “Put Your Best Fork Forward”, which acts as a reminder that each bite counts. Please review the National Nutrition Month toolkit for key messages.
This is the latest Live Well Allegheny e-update. Please find a variety of information that will be helpful to you in your efforts, and can also be shared within your own networks. As always, you can find a great deal of information on our website at www.livewellallegheny.com, including partner resources which are available here: https://livewellallegheny.com/about-us/live-well-allegheny-participants/partner-materials/.
We now have 34 communities, 9 school districts, 152 community partners, 32 restaurants, and 9 workplace united in our efforts!