Health services district on a roll
County agency developing new programs, winning awards
The Yuma County Public Health Services District is on a roll, winning grants and awards with its efforts to improve public health on both sides of the border with Mexico.
Director Diana Gomez and Gloria Coronado, program manager of the Health Promotions Division, got back on Friday, May 12, from a conference in New Orleans, held by the Kresge Foundation for its Emerging Leaders in Public Health initiative.
This is an 18-month program where they and teams from 19 other health departments around the country will develop new programs intended to shift or expand their capacity for service, but Gomez said that beyond the initial meeting it won’t require much travel.
“It’s nice that everything’s going to be virtual, they’ve budgeted for us to have cameras, so we’re going to be conducting a lot of learning activities. We’re all going to be meeting together, but everything’s going to be online, which gives us flexibility, and we don’t have to leave, which is nice,” she said.
Each participant is eli- gible for a grant of up to $125,000 to carry out the proposed project, but the exact amount is being finalized by the foundation this week.
With their application, Gomez and Coronado submitted a plan to reduce health disparities in the county. “These are things that negatively influence somebody’s health. So it could be some segments of the population have a harder time accessing health care, or don’t have access to healthy food. Maybe some sectors of the community have a higher incidence of chronic disease, things like diabetes or heart disease, or hypertension, which we have a high rate of in our community,” she said.
“And then taking a step back and identifying those partners that can help us identify those issues or work on projects with us, or how we can turn around and be a resource to some of those entities.”
Some examples could be working with local school districts, the Yuma Community Food Bank and groups establishing community gardens to increase availability of healthy food, or with cities and neighborhoods who have developed lighted walking paths to expand exercise opportunities.
Coronado said the project will identify what the county has going for it, as well as what it lacks. “What are the current resources in our community? Not just the needs but also the assets. What do we already have, and how do we better streamline those services?” she said.
Gomez said the health department is already doing a lot of partnering. “We’ve been looking at different areas and working with different partners, but we will get extensive training, we will also have access to other national models, and we will have resources. The grant will provide us the opportunity to maybe purchase equipment, and also maybe provide training that we can open up to some of our community partners,” she said.
“Even though it’s Gloria and I that are named to the project, this is very much a Yuma County effort.”
Coronado said her role is to help put the project together, “perhaps be out in the community formulating or working with our partners, bringing them to the table, discussing what is of need and what are things we can do as partners.”
Gomez said the department has plenty of statistics involving county residents’ health and what their biggest issues are, but she will also be reaching out to the public through community forums to get a more specific focus on their needs and experiences.
“Because we live and work and interact with Mexico so closely, due to our proximity with the border, we’re also planning on working with the Secreteria de Salud (secretary of health) in Mexico on some of these joint projects, like addressing chronic disease.”
“We’re looking at some prevention campaigns that we can do on both sides of the border,” Coronado added, similar to the “Love Your Heart” events held on Valentine’s Day.
The results of all 20 of the Kresge Foundation-funded projects will be presented at the annual conference of the National Association of City and County Health Officers in July 2018.
The Yuma County health district also got word early this month that it has won Arizona-Mexico Commission’s Andy Nichols award, which recognizes crossborder health initiatives, which will be presented during a dinner in Scottsdale in June.
The commission, chaired by Gov. Doug Ducey, said in the letter notifying the district of the win, lauded “the work (the district) has completed to forge a strong, coordinated relationship with public health colleagues in Sonora,” collaborating with the Public Health Ministry in Sonora as well as other public and private-sector partners in San Luis Rio Colorado.
“This type of work has resulted in a more unified binational and regional public health workforce in our border communities,” according to the letter from commission President Jessica Pacheco and Ducey staffer Juan Ciscomanti, senior adviser for regional and international affairs.