1 week Ago By Amy Westbrook
As a community, we don’t often think about, or perhaps even understand, our public health system — until something new comes along that affects our collective well-being. It’s been five years since COVID-19 changed so many of our lives. And while the pandemic has largely faded from headlines, we’re still monitoring new potential threats like bird flu and an increasing transmission of measles.
ADVERTISEMENT Rest assured, your public health system is always working for you, often behind the scenes and in aspects of our lives that are not easy to notice, such as preventing disease outbreaks, ensuring children can get to and from school on safe roads and sidewalks, and making certain that homes have safe water to drink. An effective public health system works like a GPS device. Both use data to inform us of the best route and help us see roadblocks and construction zones ahead.
The public health system, also like GPS, requires input and an on-the-ground view that can alert us to traffic jams. Elected officials and other community leaders are drivers in this metaphor — and the public health system helps to navigate, providing information and support to guide the best choices for our society’s health. Where does a community want to go? What’s important to see and know along the way? These are collective questions, and your public health system can act as a GPS in learning the answers.
“It Starts Here” is the theme for Public Health Week, April 7-11. Public health is interconnected. Together, federal, state, and local systems weave the complex fabric that supports healthier, safer communities.
It starts with a multi-layered approach. The governmental public health system works for you. With support from the Minnesota Department of Health, your local health department is collaborating with city jurisdictions across St.
Louis County to understand resident needs for healthy aging and to respond with population-specific actions. It starts with community. School districts across the county are implementing positive social and emotional support models in coordination with local governmental public health systems.
In the Duluth area, disease preventionists are coordinating with community organizations to stop the spread of HIV and syphilis. Health educators are offering mental health first-aid training to youth-serving agencies. It starts with families.
Public health nurses provide in-home prenatal assessments to women with risks of hypertension during pregnancy. Nutritionists offer access to healthy foods and provide education and counseling to young families. ADVERTISEMENT Just like GPS helps us find the best route, our public health system provides data and guidance that allows communities to make informed decisions.
Every layer — every relationship — depends on the others, shaping the well-being of our families, workplaces, schools, and neighborhoods. It starts here, with all of us, working together to navigate toward a healthier future. Amy Westbrook is director of the Public Health Division for St.
Louis County..
