Youth Risk Behavior Survey – Youth Online Update Released

Today, the Division of Adolescent and School Health (DASH) released an updated version of Youth Online - a user-friendly data access application that allows you to view and analyze Youth Risk Behavior Survey data from1991 – 2015. Youth Online now contains national, state, and local data on two aspects of sexual orientation - sexual identity and sex of sexual contacts. Youth Online can be found at www.cdc.gov/yrbs.

YRBS Background:

The YRBS monitors six categories of priority health behaviors among high school students—behaviors that contribute to unintentional injuries and violence; tobacco use; alcohol and other drug use; sexual behaviors related to unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV infection; unhealthy dietary behaviors; and physical inactivity—plus the prevalence of obesity and asthma.

Access Youth Online

 For more information about YRBS:

• Web site: www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/data/yrbs
• Phone: 1-800-CDC-INFO (1-800-232-4636)
• Email: nccddashinfo@cdc.gov

Utah is Nation’s Fastest-Growing State, Census Bureau Reports

Utah’s population crossed the 3.0 million mark as it became the nation’s fastest-growing state over the last year. Its population increased 2.0 percent to 3.1 million from July 1, 2015, to July 1, 2016, according to U.S. Census Bureau national and state population estimates released today.

“States in the South and West continued to lead in population growth,” said Ben Bolender, Chief of the Population Estimates Branch. “In 2016, 37.9 percent of the nation’s population lived in the South and 23.7 percent lived in the West.”

Following Utah, Nevada (2.0 percent), Idaho (1.8 percent), Florida (1.8 percent) and Washington (1.8 percent) saw the largest percentage increases in population.

North Dakota, which had been the fastest-growing state for the previous four years, mostly from people moving into the state, fell out of the top ten in growth due to a net outflow of migrants to other parts of the country. Its growth slowed from 2.3 percent in the previous year to 0.1 percent.

Nationally, the U.S. population grew by 0.7 percent to 323.1 million. Furthermore, the population of voting-age residents, adults age 18 and over, grew to 249.5 million, making up 77.2 percent of the population in 2016, an increase of 0.9 percent from 2015 (247.3 million).

Eight states lost population between July 1, 2015, and July 1, 2016, including Pennsylvania, New York and Wyoming, all three of which had grown the previous year. Illinois lost more people than any other state (-37,508).

Two states that had been losing population in the previous year, Maine and New Mexico, saw increases in population of 0.15 and 0.03 percent respectively.  

In addition to the population data for the 50 states and the District of Columbia, the new estimates show that Puerto Rico had an estimated population of 3.4 million, a decline from 3.5 million in 2015. Estimates of the components of population change (births, deaths, and migration) were also released today.

Read entire report.

National Minority Health Month 2017 Theme

We are pleased to announce the theme for National Minority Health Month 2017:
Bridging Health Equity Across Communities!

During National Minority Health Month, beginning April 1, 2017, the HHS Office of Minority Health will join with our partners in raising awareness about efforts across health, education, justice, housing, transportation and employment sectors to address the factors known as the social determinants of health – environmental, social and economic conditions that impact health. The HHS Office of Minority Health will continue to bridge efforts across the nation to help eliminate health disparities, accelerate health equity and build a stronger, healthier nation.

Visit the OMH website to learn more about National Minority Health Month, and sign up for theNational Minority Health Month topic on our email list to be notified when we post new tools and resources to support your #NMHM17 events and programs!

New England RHEC’s Webinar on Approach to Youth Workforce Development

Are you interested in learning more about workforce pipeline development programs for youth?

One priority of the New England Regional Health Equity Council (NERHEC) is to engage youth and emerging leaders in region-wide efforts to promote health equity. NERHEC is hosting a webinar for The Social & Health Services and Healthcare Administration at Roger Williams University in Rhode Island to present its Community Development Program. The program provides a lens by which graduates can apply coursework and academic experiences to a variety of fields for employment (and/or for continuing their studies) in non-profit organizations, public health, finance and banking, law and law enforcement, real estate and housing development, city and state government, policy research, environmental justice, and education. Upon completion of this webinar, the participants will be able to accomplish the following from the specific organizational perspective:

1. Understand workforce development for youth rooted in educational opportunities and career exploration/exposure, both of which result in healthy outcomes; 
2. Communicate the role of youth workforce development in graduation and retention rates for kids of color in high school. 
3. Identify motivational factors of workforce development for youth of color;
4. Seek funding for youth workforce development; and 
5. Collaborate across sectors for youth workforce development. 

DATE: January 23, 2017

TIME: 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time

SPEAKERS:	Moderators:	Linda Hudson, ScD, MSPH, Assistant Professor, Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, Tufts University School of Medicine
	Presenter:	Dr. Taino Palumbo, EdD, Program Director of Community Development, Roger Williams University

Roger Williams University’s Community Development (CD) Program provides current and prospective community development practitioners with a foundation based on theory, skill development, and practice to address the challenges of today’s urban and rural neighborhoods and communities. Students learn and understand community development as the intersection of public health, public safety, education, government, economic development, environment, transportation and housing—and how they all work in concert—through course work, field work, and intern/externships.

Register here

The New England RHEC is one of 10 regional health equity councils formed in 2011 as a part of the National Partnership for Action to End Health Disparities (NPA). The NPA is a national movement with the mission to improve the effectiveness of programs that target the elimination of health disparities through coordination of leaders, partners, and stakeholders committed to action. NERHEC is a coalition of leaders and health disparities experts representing several sectors and the states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. NERHEC envisions the achievement of health equity through cross-sector integration of actions and resources to optimize health for all where they live, learn, work, and play.  Visit NERHEC’s website for more information: http://region1.npa-rhec.org/

¹ If the registration link does not work, please copy the entire link and paste it into your web browser. For webinar-specific questions, contact the moderator at csantos@explorepsa.com.

Trauma Awareness Seminar

Utah’s Department of Workforce Services (DWS) is excited about being able to offer a 4 hour Trauma Awareness Seminar to all state agency staff and community partners.  These training sessions are on January 4th. There will be other options, with training in Provo on January 5th and in Lehi on January 17th. I'll send those registration links to you as they become available. 

The seminar is a basic introduction to the area of trauma. It is designed for anyone who encounters individuals and families who may have experienced trauma, whether in the front lobby of an agency, while delivering home services or even passing people on the street.  

 

The seminar is free but registration is required. There are two identical sessions, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. To register for the session of your choice simply click on the link below.

https://traumaaware_spanishfork_am.eventbrite.com

https://traumaaware_spanishfork_pm.eventbrite.com 

The seminars will start promptly at 8:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m.  The seminar runs the entire 4 hours; thus, it is very important to arrive a few minutes before the start times. If you have any questions you can call Mary Beth Vogel-Ferguson – 801-581-3071.

Extended Opportunity for January 1 Coverage: Sign Up by December 19

Because of the extraordinary volume of consumers contacting our call center or visiting HealthCare.gov, we are extending the deadline to sign-up for January 1 coverage until 11:59pm PST December 19. Hundreds of thousands have already selected plans over the last few days and nearly a million consumers have left their contact information to hold their place in line at the call center so far.  Our goal is to provide affordable coverage to everyone seeking it before the deadline, and these additional days will give consumers an opportunity to come back and complete their enrollment for January 1 coverage.

https://www.healthcare.gov/alert/ 

How can I protect my child against the flu?

To protect against the flu, the first and most important thing you can do is to get a flu vaccine for yourself and your child. There is a guide that is available and attached to this email to provide to parents with.                                                                                                                              

* Vaccination is recommended for everyone 6 months and older.

* It’s especially important that young children and children with long term health conditions get vaccinated. (See list of conditions in “How serious is the flu?”)

* Caregivers of children with health conditions or of children younger than 6 months old should get vaccinated. (Babies younger than 6 months are too young to be vaccinated themselves.)

* Another way to protect babies is to vaccinate pregnant women. Research shows that flu vaccination gives some protection to the baby both while the woman is pregnant and for up to 6 months after the baby is born.

Download this Parent Guide and go to CDC.gov/flu for more information.