National Public Health Week
Apr 04, 2022
It’s National Public Health Week!
National Public Health Week (NPHW) was established in 1995 by the American Public Health Association to educate the public, policymakers and public health professionals about issues important to improving the public’s health. But what is public health?
Public health is the science of protecting and improving the health of communities.
Here is a great video explaining the role of public health. This week’s theme is “Public Health is Where You Are.” This means that where we live, work, learn and play impacts our health...and that is why Live Well Sioux Falls and the Sioux Falls Health Department is committed to making our community healthier, stronger and safer. Check of this video below to see just how public health exists where you are!
How to get involved this week:
- Follow us on social media and look for our daily posts
- Post your own public health posts and share with friends. Make sure to tag our page and use the hashtags: #NPHW and #ThisIsPublicHealthSF
- Add a NPHW filter to your Facebook photo
- Visit our photo booth on Tuesday (5th) and Wednesday (6th) in the lobby of the Health and Human Services building (521 N. Main)
- View our events calendar and find a healthy event to participate
- Make a healthy recipe from our online recipe center
- Complete these activity sheets to boost your public health knowledge
Our Daily Themes
Monday, April 4th: Social Determinants of Health
We have learned that what makes us healthy has more to do with our environment than our DNA. Things like our housing, access to education and health care, transportation, access to healthy foods and the ability to be active each day are just some of the factors referred to as Social Determinants of Health (SDOH). SDOH can contribute to health disparities and inequities between varying neighborhoods or community members. Public health works to not only improve overall health and well-bring, but also to decrease the disparities amongst communities.
Tuesday, April 5th: Public Health Workforce
People working in all areas of public health are uniquely positioned to build healthy lives and building healthy communities. National Public Health Week provides an opportunity to talk about how we address public health issues through the promotion of physical, behavioral, and environmental health; the prevention of illness, disease, and injury; and the elimination of health disparities. Public health workers come from a variety of different backgrounds and work in a variety of different settings. A strong collaborative approach to public health will help move the needle towards improved health outcomes.
Wednesday, April 6th: Community Collaboration and Resiliency
In addition to the public health workforce, other community organizations play an important role in impacting the health and well-being of our community schools, worksites, neighborhoods, churches, public spaces, and the environment. All residents of the community, regardless of background, education, income, or neighborhood should have an equitable opportunity to be healthy. This requires the help of a diverse group of partners and community members, including engaging community voices who may often go unheard. Collaborative, community-led, multi-sector approaches to changing policies and systems can address the conditions that hold disparities in place and create more community resilience.
Thursday, April 7th: Protecting and Promoting Health for All
Many cost-effective, preventive steps can add up to make a big difference in transforming a community’s approach to health from one focused on treatment to one that equally values prevention. These steps include everything from creating more opportunities for residents to be active and safe outdoors to being able to access healthy foods.
Live Well Sioux Falls is a program of the Health Department with a community-wide focus to help improve the health and well-being of Sioux Falls residents. We collaborate with community partners to promote good nutrition and access to healthy foods, encourage more physical activity, promote quality clinical preventive services, reduce tobacco use, promote connections to behavioral health resources and more. Our goal is to transform the health of our community to create a more vibrant, active, and livable city.
Friday, April 8th: Equitable Health Care
Falls Community Health is a community health medical and dental clinic with a mission to reduce or eliminate health disparities. The clinics serve patients at four sites. The main site is located at 521 North Main Avenue, and three additional sites are located at Hawthorne Elementary, Terry Redlin Elementary, and Hayward Elementary. All sites are available to patients regardless of ability to pay.
Saturday, April 9th: Environmental Health
The Health Department Environmental Division is responsible for areas relating to sanitation/inspection, licensing, and reducing neighborhood or property problems through code enforcement, public health preparedness, community programs, and services such as mosquito control. One prominent program from this division is the upcoming Project NICE/KEEP, which helps identified neighborhoods with a volunteer-driven neighborhood cleanup.
Sunday, April 10th: Emergencies in Public Health
A key role of a public health department is to ensure the community is ready to respond in the event of a health emergency. The Sioux Falls Health Department continues to lead and participate in healthcare preparedness coalitions both in Sioux Falls and across the state. In addition, the department works with health care partners and community-based organizations to conduct preparedness planning, training and exercises, and support the broader public health needs during responses for all disasters.
Additionally, we provide quality assurance for emergency medical services by working with the Sioux Falls Regional Emergency Medical Services Authority (REMSA) to provide guidance and recommendations on matters related to emergency medical services. This includes conducting quality assurance activities linking all the agencies that provide emergency medical services in Sioux Falls, including call taking, emergency medical dispatcher, law enforcement and fire first response, ambulance service, online medical control, and hospitals.
Resources
Eager to learn more or get involved? Check out these local and national public health resources:
Public Health in South Dakota
Sioux Falls Health Department
South Dakota Department of Health
South Dakota Public Health Association
National Public Health Resources
NPHW.org
American Public Health Association
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Healthy People 2030
