Monthly Health Articles Archive

Get to know your public health services

After a long winter, many of us are more anxious than usual to see signs of spring.  In addition to spring, April also brings the annual celebration of National Public Health Week.  What is the role of public health in Kossuth County?  The public health nurses in Community Health of Kossuth Regional Health Center fill many different and important roles that play a part in the health and wellness of our entire community.

The goal of public health is to protect and improve the health of communities through education, promotion of healthy lifestyles, and prevention strategies for disease and injury prevention.  Public health nurses at KRHC teach classes about child health and nutrition, offer school nursing services, provide immunizations, help prepare for potential bio-emergencies and handle a wide variety of other tasks.  “A Healthier America, One Community at a Time” is the theme for National Public Health Week 2010.  As we celebrate this annual event, take time to consider what services are available to you through public health. 

Public health must evolve and change along with communities and the health issues that arise.  One example would be the focus on H1N1 in the past year.  Before spring of 2009, many people had never heard of this illness.  Now, one year later, our public health staff has delivered almost 5,000 vaccines targeted against H1N1, educated the public on the topic and logged many hours in meetings regarding surveillance, mitigation, communication and vaccination related to this new strain of the flu.

Public health priorities encompass both the young and the elderly, and range from health concerns such as tobacco use to chronic disease management.  Our public health nurses work with the public to help them improve their nutrition and eating habits, level of activity and other things that factor into their overall health.

The Care for Yourself Program, which involves the Breast and Cervical Early Detection Program and the Wise Woman Program, offers eligible women ages 40 to 64 important screenings services with their own health care provider.  A breast exam, office visit, pap test, mammogram, blood testing and cardiovascular screenings are available through this service.  Many of the public health initiatives encourage self-sufficiency and personal involvement.  For instance, the health management classes offered by Jo Lighter and Kossuth County Extension help people with chronic illness and pain to be more control of their health.  Our Healthy Families program works with mothers to provide education on parenting and nutrition, preparing them for the ongoing task of taking care of a young family.

Meanwhile, our Vaccine for Children program and other immunization efforts help to protect children and people of all ages against the spread of disease.  Public health can provide programs, immunizations, lead tests, services and long lists of other opportunities, but your involvement is needed to fully utilize them. To find out more about the public health services available to you, check out the Community Health page of the Kossuth Regional Health Center website at www.krhc.com or contact us at 515-295-4430.

-Dixie Meyer is the manager of KRHC Community Health