Tag Archives: healthy st. mary’s

Southern Maryland Mission of Mercy

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photo of missions of mercy clinic 
Guest Contributor: Libby Blair, RN, MS, Director of Health Promotion and Community Services, St. Mary's County Health Department

More than 100 million people in the United States are without dental insurance. In the Southern Maryland area, there are thousands of adults that don’t receive adequate or even basic needed dental care, resulting in a silent epidemic of dental and oral disease. The Southern Maryland Mission of Mercy is focused on addressing those needs in a professional and caring manner.

The 2016 Southern Maryland Mission of Mercy will be held on July 29th and 30th from 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM at North Point High School in Waldorf, Maryland.

This free adult dental clinic will provide services such as dental cleanings, fillings, restorations, and extractions. The event will be first come, first served and it is likely that the line will be cut off at 10:00 AM each day to allow the opportunity to treat all patients. As in previous years, it is anticipated that this event will provide dental services to more than 600 patients and deliver approximately 4,000 procedures.

Several partners, including the Maryland State Dental Association, local Rotary Clubs, and the Archdiocese of Washington, are helping to raise donations to cover all associated costs, but volunteers are still needed to ensure that this event is a success. Volunteer opportunities include providing medical coverage, nursing support, patient registration, screening, patient escort, hospitality, etc. Volunteers are asked to commit to a 6-hour shift. Every single person that volunteers is making an essential contribution to the health and well-being of the community.

If you are interested in participating as a volunteer or for more information on this event, please visit: http://www.southernmdmom.org/

Inaugural HSMP Meeting: Tobacco Free Living Session

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The Healthy St. Mary’s Partnership will host its first annual meeting on Thursday June 4, 2015 from 1:00 PM – 4:30 PM at the Dr. James A. Forrest Career and Technology Center in Leonardtown, Maryland. The meeting is only one month away – Register to save your seat now!

This meeting will be an opportunity for participants to network, learn from experts on the local health priority areas and to receive updates on coalition-wide business.

Spotlight – Tobacco Free Living

Kathleen HokeElectronic Cigarettes: Past, Present and Future

Kathleen Hoke, JD, Law School Professor and Director, Legal Resource Center for Public Health Policy

The rapid rise in use of electronic nicotine delivery devices, or e-cigarettes has generated questions and concerns in communities nationwide. This session will provide an overview on e-cigarettes, current and anticipated regulations, and opportunities for local action.

Kathleen Hoke, JD, is a Law School Professor and Director of the Network for Public Health Law, Eastern Region and the Center for Tobacco Regulation at the University of Maryland Carey School of Law. Hoke provides technical legal assistance to Maryland state and local health officials, legislators, and organizations working in the development of public health policy and tobacco control.  Recent work has focused on the regulation of cigars and the development of sound policies to create smoke-free multi-unit housing.

Learn more about Kathleen

Additional Forum Topics:

  • The Partnership and Local Health Improvement Planning
  • Access to Care
  • Behavioral Health
  • Healthy Eating & Active Living

Join us after the event for an optional Social Hour at the Oldetowne Pub in Leonardtown!

HSMP Seeks Public Comments on Healthy St. Mary’s 2020 Draft

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Healthy St. Mary’s Partnership Seeks Public Comments on Draft Plan for Local Health Improvement

LEONARDTOWN, MD (April 21, 2015) – The Healthy St. Mary’s Partnership (HSMP) is seeking comments on its DRAFT 2015 – 2020 Local Health Improvement Plan for St. Mary’s County, Maryland “Healthy St Mary’s 2020”.

HSMP members and community partners have engaged in a strategic planning process to draft Healthy St. Mary’s 2020. This process was informed by local and state data, both quantitative and qualitative. Healthy St. Mary’s 2020 will provide a framework and consensus-based recommendations for improving the health of St. Mary’s County residents. It will provide insight into long-term health solutions and present a road map for achieving optimal health for all community members.

Public participation will help shape Healthy St. Mary’s 2020, its framework, objectives, and targets. HSMP will provide opportunities for public input periodically to ensure that Healthy St. Mary’s 2020 reflects current public health priorities and public input. The updated set of Healthy St. Mary’s 2020 objectives will be published on www.healthystmarys.com and will reflect further review and deliberation by the HSMP Steering Committee.

Written comments will be accepted until 6:00 PM ET on Tuesday May 5, 2015.

Comments may be submitted via the Online Public Comment Form or:

Mail:      Healthy St. Mary’s Partnership
                 c/o St. Mary’s County Health Department
                 Attn: Jenna Mulliken
                 P.O. Box 316
                 Leonardtown, MD 20650
Fax:        (301) 475-4350
Email:    stmaryspartnership@gmail.com

HSMPThe Healthy St. Mary’s Partnership was established in 2013 to serve as the local health improvement coalition for St. Mary’s County. HSMP is a community-driven coalition of partners working together to improve health in St. Mary’s County, Maryland. The coalition mobilizes members through four action teams to address the priority health issues in St. Mary’s: Access to Care, Behavioral Health, Healthy Eating & Active Living and Tobacco Free Living. For more information on the Healthy St. Mary’s Partnership or to become a member, visit https://healthystmarys.com/

Healthy Business Forum

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Healthiest Maryland Businesses will host their 2nd Annual Healthy Business Forum for Southern Maryland on April 24 in Hughesville.

Register Here

Event Details

  • Location: Southern Maryland Association of Realtors
  • Time: 8:30 AM – 12:00 PM

Let’s Think and Talk About Worksite Wellness…

Topics Include:

  • Healthiest Maryland Introduction and progress of project.
  • Do you know if you are getting the most value from your health care dollars?
  • Do you have a clear picture of the health of your workforce and its impact on your health care costs?
  • Do you know the strategies and vendors that will work hardest for you and your budget?
  • Are you making the most informed purchasing decisions?
  • Local Success Story
  • Making stress your best friend
  • How do I become a Healthiest Maryland Business?
Speakers Include:

John Miller, MidAtlantic Business Group on Health

Cliff Long, Longevity Studios

Victoria St. Arnold, SMECO

Angela Deal, Charles County Department of Health

Healthy Business Forum

County Health Rankings

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County Rankings St. Mary's

Positive Report for St. Mary’s

LEONARDTOWN, MD (March 26, 2015) – St. Mary’s County ranks as the fifth healthiest county in Maryland, according to the sixth annual County Health Rankings, released today by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute. This ranking reflects an improvement from eighth in 2014.

The County Health Rankings are an annual report that grade the overall health of nearly every county in the United States. The Rankings provide a snapshot of a community’s health, and helps to identify issues and implement solutions to create healthier places to live, learn, work and play. The St. Mary’s County ranking was positively impacted by local improvements in social and economic factors, quality of life, and premature death.  Since the 2011 Rankings, premature death in the county has decreased by 13 percent.

“Community partners, county leadership, health care providers, and our residents should take pride in knowing that work done to improve their own health, as well as the health of our community, has yielded such positive results,” said Dr. Meena Brewster, St. Mary’s County Health Officer. “The rankings also reaffirms priority areas that our local health improvement coalition, the Healthy St. Mary’s Partnership, has identified and continues to address—access to care, healthy eating and active living, behavioral health, and tobacco-free living.”

The Rankings allow for relative comparisons between counties within a state on overall health and well-being. These comparisons are based on an assessment of four areas that influence health: health behaviors, clinical care, social and economic factors, and the physical environment. These factors are rated using local-level data from 30 measures that include smoking, education, physical inactivity, preventable hospitalizations, and the availability of primary care physicians.

Rates of adult smoking and obesity, preventable hospitalizations, and the ratios of residents to health professionals, including primary care physicians, dentists and mental health providers were areas where St. Mary’s County ranked low when compared to the other 23 Maryland counties.

“While the trend of an improving county health ranking for St. Mary’s is very encouraging,” said Dr. Brewster, “I am concerned about the challenges we face with access to care and risk factors leading to chronic illness. With the help of community stakeholders and the Healthy St. Mary’s Partnership, we continue to seek solutions for these issues.”

The Rankings are available online at www.countyhealthrankings.org. For additional information visit the health department’s website at www.smchd.org or the Healthy St. Mary’s Partnership website at www.healthystmarys.com.

Workplace Wellness

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Workplace Wellness

Your health is important wherever you go! And now that many people are spending most of their day sitting at a desk or inside an office, implementing health programs at the workplace has become vital to ensuring healthy lifestyles.  

What is Workplace Wellness?

“Workplace Wellness” is a term used to describe efforts by businesses to improve the health of its employees through use of program offerings and incentives. Working Marylanders spend an average of 9.2 hours per day at work leading to a decrease in the amount of time available for exercise and healthy eating. In part, this has led to an increase in the burden of chronic disease, much of which is preventable. Rising rates of chronic disease contribute to skyrocketing healthcare costs, which affect both employers and employees.

Workplace Wellness initiatives support employees and their families to make healthier choices so we can reduce chronic disease and our collective healthcare costs. These programs tend to focus on healthier food choices, increasing physical activity in and out of the workplace, and smoking cessation. By eating healthy, being physically active, and not smoking we can drastically reduce the human and economic toll of obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart attacks, and strokes.

A comprehensive employee health management strategy will help to prevent and control chronic disease and other conditions that are identified to be a problem for your workforce.  Preventing and controlling chronic disease improves quality of life and a company’s bottom line.

Need a Wellness Program at Your Office?

Ask your employer if they offer a wellness or health promotion program. If not, suggest implementing one at your office. One way to start is by joining Healthiest Maryland Businesses (HMB).

Healthiest Maryland Businesses are taking the first step towards creating an environment that supports healthy employees, an economic driver of your business’ fiscal health! Having a wellness program ensures that everyone wins – employees and their families are healthier, and companies save on health care costs and absenteeism.

Benefits of Joining Healthiest Maryland Businesses:

  • Consultation with certified work-site wellness personnel
  • Access to HMB e-news and training events
  • Technical assistance on how to implement policies and programs
  • Connection to evidence-based resources
  • Peer-to-peer support from neighboring businesses
  • Promotion as a member in this leading, statewide initiative

For more information, contact dhmh.healthiestmaryland@maryland.gov.

Additional Resources:

Workplace Health Promotion – CDC Toolkit

Healthiest Maryland Businesses – NEW WEBSITE!

Exercise at Your Desk – WebMD Feature

Stairwell Toolkit – Workplace Wellness Initiative

 

Content Sources: Centers for Disease Control, Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene