Celebrate Public Health Week Locally

Today marks the beginning of National Public Health Week. To raise awareness about public health issues, we will highlight stories, videos, and photos related to all things public health throughout the week. The theme this year is “A Healthier America: One Community at a Time” — so what better way to start than to bring attention to what the Lehigh Valley’s communities are doing on the public health front?

As  many of you know, the Lehigh Valley Board of Health is finalizing the plan and budget proposal for a regional health department. A Lehigh Valley Health Department will bring essential services — such as immunizations, health screenings, regular restaurant inspections, and education about better nutrition and physical activity — to all residents and workers across the region, regardless whether they live in the cities, borough, or townships. The plan for bi-county health department is subject to the approval of the Lehigh Valley county legislatures. To learn more about this effort — and to learn how you can help out — visit RenewLV’s Regional Health Initiative page.

Two cities in the Lehigh Valley — Allentown and Bethlehem — do have existing local health departments that provide high-quality services to the residents of those cities. Below is a brief overview of what the two departments are doing this week.

Allentown Health Bureau is celebrating National Public Health Week by honoring a different local health champion every day of this week. According to the Health Bureau, health champions “advocate, organize, encourage and inspire health improvements and an overall healthy lifestyle for themselves, their families and their communities.” You can read about today’s honored champion — Connie Kunda, former Head of the Department of Physical Education and Athletics at Muhlenberg College — on the City of Allentown’s website.

Meanwhile, Bethlehem Health Bureau is kicking off their Lunch N’ Motion walking program this Tuesday, April 6. The Express Times reports:

“We need to help promote healthy lifestyles and decrease obesity,” said Sherri Penchishen, the bureau’s director of chronic disease, health education and planning programs. “We’re trying to take the guesswork out of it.”

For the first month, the group will walk on the South Bethlehem Greenway and East Third Street. Starting in May, the program will rotate to another city neighborhood, although health bureau officials are hopeful the South Side walking group will continue on its own.

A twice-weekly program, Lunch N’ Motion runs noon to 1 p.m. every Tuesday and Thursday. In the month of April, the group meets at the grassy area outside of Comfort Suites, 120 W. Third St. Parking is available at the hotel. For more information or to register, call Claudia Richan at 610-997-3562 or e-mail her at crichan@bethlehem-pa.gov

Make sure you subscribe to the Crossroads RSS feed to not miss any of our updates. Also, follow us on Twitter – @renewlv – as we will be linking to public health-related stories often this week. And, of course, visit RenewLV’s Regional Health Initiative page to find out about what you can do to help support the establishment of a Lehigh Valley Health Department.

Underscoring Public Health

Health care reform. It has become the media catchphrase. Thus far – and understandably so – the main concern has been over how to provide adequate coverage to the 46 million uninsured Americans. But the national health care discussion received some new attention today, and, this time, the focus switched to preventative care.

The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee approved The Affordable Health Choices Act today, a bill that highlights public health, or preventative, programs at its core. Preventative care focuses on wellness and the maintenance of good public health. Public health departments, like the one in its planning stage in the Lehigh Valley, are responsible for the general community health, and, in part, work out plans for protection against communicable diseases, as well as educate the local public about good health programs, such as exercise and nutrition. Because public health initiatives promote smarter development patterns, such as walkable communities, they are in line with smart growth practices.

As mentioned in yesterday’s post, it is important to link up different issues together in the smart growth narrative, and a new Transportation for America blog post examines the connection between transportation and public health, citing some new research that has emerged recently. For instance, the newest figures for the cost of obesity, posted by the California Center for Public Health Advocacy, hover close to $40 billion for that state alone. Another study suggests that women who live in areas with much traffic congestion and air pollution are at higher risk for complications during pregnancy. Transportation reform, not to mention better land-use planning, are both closely tied to these findings, as walkable communities and transit options can help with these health issues.

It is important to remember that public health, while part of the broad health care vision, is separate from the health care coverage discussion, and it is great to see some attention shed on preventative care.

Keep following discussions related to public health by visiting our Join Us page and checking off the Health box. And, of course, keep checking this blog for updates.