Live Well Allegheny: April E-Update
Hello!
Welcome new members of Live Well Allegheny!
Congratulations to the boroughs of Millvale, Crafton, Emsworth, Leetsdale, and Castle Shannon for committing to making Allegheny County the healthiest county in the nation! In March, we designated the five boroughs as our newest Live Well Allegheny communities. With the addition of these boroughs, a total of 55 communities in the county are Living Well.
The calendar has turned to April. We all know the struggle of “April showers.” At Live Well Allegheny, we recognize that cabin fever and “April showers” don’t bode well for healthy living. Don’t let the weather dampen your drive for health and wellness! There are plenty of indoor activities that will get you moving. Stretching and walking indoors are great ways to stay active when the weather doesn’t cooperate.
Our Live Well Allegheny partners are pros at finding creative ways to incorporate health and wellness in the lives of Allegheny County residents. At Woodland Hills School District, the school staff ensures that students are learning healthy habits through the Live Well After School Program. Check out this month’s Live Well Story to learn more about how Woodland Hills School District is improving the health of its students! Also, check out the new Health Department Facebook page! Like us on Facebook to stay up to date on all the ACHD news.
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 ([email protected]) with details. Please check the partner resources page of the web site for additional resources.
Karen Hacker, MD, MPH
Director, Allegheny County Health Department
Campaign Corner
Woodland Hills School District, a Live Well Allegheny school, is teaching students lifelong health and wellness information with its Live Well After School Program, a semester-long after school program focused on healthy habits. Check out the details in this month’s Live Well Story!
Interested in highlighting a health initiative in your organization? Please reach out to Kristen Rodack ([email protected]).
Live Well Allegheny hosted the first Learning Collaborative event of 2018 on March 12th! The workshop, Stress Management & Health, provided participants with information about the impact of stress on health and healthy ways to manage stress. Speakers from ACHD, FOCUS Pittsburgh, the Borough of Turtle Creek, and Mindful Pittsburgh discussed various aspects of stress and how it impacts overall health, and offered healthy behaviors to reduce the impacts of stress. Attendees also participated in brief mindfulness and yoga practices.
Did you miss the workshop? Check out the resources below!
Students from Steel Valley School District, a Live Well Allegheny school, are presenting community health research at a Health and Wellness Fair on April 21st! The students will present research they conducted on topics that affect their communities, including Loneliness in Teens, School Lunch and Food Insecurity, and the Right to Sight. The students are part of the Pitt-Bridge Program, an extracurricular program that includes science, technology, research, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STREAM) learning through health science clubs and prepares students to become STEM leaders in their community. Join the fun and learn about health topics affecting your community!
Partner Information
Schools in Allegheny County are ramping up school breakfast! Ten school districts in Allegheny County are exceeding Governor Wolf’s breakfast goal from Setting the Table: A Blueprint for a Hunger Free Pennsylvania, and five are implementing creative solutions. The Governor established this goal for schools: “By 2020, 60 percent of students benefiting from the free and reduced-price school meals will participate in school breakfast.”
A new report, Breakfast Basics 2018 Update, from Allies for Children and Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank states that, overall, Allegheny County is close to meeting the Governor’s goal. Currently, an average of 57% of students eligible for free and reduced-price school meals are eating school breakfast.
ACHD, in cooperation with the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) Breastfeeding Program, is seeking nominations for its annual Breastfeeding Friendly Places Awards. The awards are presented to workplaces, public places, and other sites away from home that make an extra effort to help breastfeeding moms by offering a positive attitude and supportive environment. Nominations will be accepted until May 22nd.
To nominate an employer, public place, or other site, please call the ACHD WIC Program at 412-350-4637, or visit the Breastfeeding Friendly Place Awards page: http://www.achd.net/bfa/.
FISA Foundation, Pittsburgh Pirates and United Way of Southwestern PA are pleased to bring Tony Porter to Pittsburgh! On April 7th, Tony Porter will give a free keynote at PNC Park, calling on us to create a world where all men and boys are loving and respectful, and all women and girls are valued and safe. Mr. Porter is an adviser to the NFL, NBA, NHL, MLS, and MLB on violence prevention through promoting healthy masculinity. Following the keynote, participants will hear from local coaches who are using Coaching Boys Into Men (CBIM) to teach their athletes about respect, communication, boundaries, and healthy relationships.
Educators, parents, and adults who work with youth (at all ages) are invited to attend this program. High school students are also welcomed to attend. All must RSVP.
Join Trying Together for their Annual Celebration Dinner on April 10th! The dinner will honor early care and education professionals. Guests will enjoy dinner, prizes, networking opportunities, and keynote speaker Bill Strickland of Manchester Bidwell Corporation.
Join Farm to Table Western PA for its annual Farm to Table Conference April 14th-15th! The conference, which provides consumers with two days of networking and educational opportunities, will include seasonal cooking demonstrations, gardening, and nutrition information about local food.
Pittsburgh Black Nurses in Action partnered with Kingsley Association and the Athletic Trauma Unit to bring a Poster Contest and Health Fair to your community! Come to the Kingsley Association (6435 Frankstown Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15206) on April 21st for a youth poster contest and health fair on “What Does Health Mean to Me?”
Registration is open for the 2018 Highmark Walk for a Healthy Community! The Highmark Walk for a Health community is an annual fundraising walk that benefits local health and human service agencies. This year, the Walk will benefit 78 organizations in Pittsburgh. The Walk is on Saturday, May 12th at Stage AE.
Coming soon! The American Lung Association hosts the LUNG FORCE Expo on June 7th! This one day event features expert presentations on lung cancer and other lung diseases. This event gives patients, caregivers and healthcare providers a chance to connect and learn ways to stay healthy.
What’s Happening in Public Health
Did you know, April is Alcohol Awareness Month? Drinking too much alcohol increases your risk of injuries, liver disease, and some types of cancer. Fortunately, everyone can play a role in preventing alcohol misuse and abuse. Celebrate Alcohol Awareness Month by spreading the word about strategies for preventing alcohol misuse and abuse.
Looking for ways to make a difference? Use the toolkit below for more ideas!
Earth Day is April 22nd! Earth Day is a global event used to demonstrate support for environmental protection. This year will focus on mobilizing the world to end plastic pollution. There are environmental and health risks associated with the use and disposal of plastics, including pollution of our oceans, waters, and wildlife.
You can celebrate Earth Day at ReuseFest on April 21st! Donate your gently used materials to be reused by local nonprofits, and learn about reuse at the Reuse Marketplace! What materials are being collected for nonprofits? Check out the list!
In March, PublicSource teamed up with 90.5 WESA to produce a series of articles on food access and policy in the Pittsburgh region. The series covers some of the regional barriers to food access that impact the health of our communities. The articles also highlight the collective action of local food access and hunger organizations that are working to address the problems associated with low food access. Click the button below to learn more about the food access issues affecting our region, and what local organizations are doing to combat the problem.
The Department of Human Services (DHS) and ACHD issued an updated report and data visualizations on opioid-related overdose deaths. The report is an update to a 2016 report that analyzed data related to opioid-related overdose deaths from 2008-2014. The new report examines data from January 1, 2015-December 12, 2016. In 2016, 93 percent of overdose deaths in Allegheny County were opioid-related and 2016 represented the third consecutive year in which the number of fatal overdoes was higher than in any prior year.
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) is seeking public feedback on bicycle and pedestrian safety. PennDOT has begun the process of updating the Statewide Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan and invites the public to weigh in through an online survey. The plan, last updated in 2007, will outline a framework for improving walking and bicycling conditions in Pennsylvania.
Have you ever wanted to participate in a research study? Now is your chance! The University of Pittsburgh is one of select few institutions across the country participating in the All of Us research program, a landmark National Institutes of Health project to recruit one million people to advance Precision Medicine. Precision Medicine can help identify a person’s risk for diseases and develop individualized approaches to diagnosis, treatment, and disease prevention. At the University of Pittsburgh, All of Us Pennsylvania will give researchers the tools to pave the way for discoveries of more individualized approaches to health care.
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 55 communities, 14 school districts, 167 community partners, 42 restaurants, and 14 workplaces united in our efforts!