The Healthy St. Mary’s Partnership (HSMP) will offer the opportunity for a limited number of partners/community organizations to set up an informational table at the HSMP Annual Meeting on September 26, 2024.
The St. Mary’s County Health Department will be offering the Overdose Response Program for free to community members who may be able to save the life of someone experiencing breathing problems from opioid overdose.
Visit http://www.smchd.org/overdose/ to register.
Successfully trained individuals will receive a certificate allowing them to obtain a prescription for naloxone (Narcan®), a life-saving medication that can quickly restore the breathing of a person who has overdosed on heroin or prescription opioid pain medication like oxycodone, hydrocodone, morphine, fentanyl or methadone.
This video is intended to educate parents and other adults about the harm and risks associated with allowing alcohol to be served to minor in their homes (social hosting) and to depict the unexpected problems that can occur in that situation. It is designed to be introduced by local community prevention leaders to stimulate discussion about the dangers of social hosting, and intended to be shown at venues such as Back to School Night, PTA meetings, parent workshops, and other school events. This video was produced through the SAMHSA/CSAP Underage Drinking Prevention Education Initiatives (UADPEI) in an ongoing collaboration with States and Territories to produce videos that support local underage drinking prevention communications efforts. Across the Nation, every State and Territory is unique and so are their approaches to preventing and reducing underage drinking. The video project supports the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s Strategic Initiative #1: Prevention of Substance Abuse and Mental Illness, which states, “… prevention of underage drinking [is] a priority for States, Territories, Tribal entities, universities and communities.”
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.
Electronic Cigarettes: Past, Present and FutureThe 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.
Additional Forum Topics:
Join us after the event for an optional Social Hour at the Oldetowne Pub in Leonardtown!
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.
The 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/
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.
The Youth Drug Prevention Summit featured interactive learning programs, information from community organizations, and keynote speaker Frank Kros from the Upside Down Organization.
The purpose of the summit was to increase awareness and educate community students about the risk and dangers associated with substance misuse. Furthermore, student organizers and adult mentors hoped to generate discussion about future projects and engage youth in local prevention efforts that will serve to bring further understanding to all St. Mary’s County school age students about this issue.
Youth Prevention Drug Summit Home Page
Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids
St. Mary’s County Department of Aging &and Human Services
St. Mary’s County Health Department
“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.
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:
For more information, contact dhmh.healthiestmaryland@
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