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A new “flash report” designed to
reduce paper consumption and
concentrate on selected public
health issues was unveiled at the
Jan. 25 Public Health Committee
meeting.
The two-page report is designed to
focus the efforts of
the Health Department and how they
specifically to the 10 Essential
Services of Public Health. For
example, the Jan. 25 report
highlights flu surveillance
(Essential service No. 1: Monitor
health status and understand health
issues facing the community), the
“Smart Growth is Health Living”
workshop (Essential service No. 5:
Develop public health policies and
plans. See article below) and data
from the Health Department’s call
center showing the number of
inquiries related to the
department’s recent transition
(Essential service No. 3: Give
people the information they need to
make healthy choices). |
Topping
the report each month will
be a chart providing a quick
finance and budget glance.
Following months will
highlight three or four of
the department’s activities
and the essential service to
which they apply. And each
topic will include a link to
the Health Department’s Web
site for more information.
The Health Department staff
will continue to collect the
data that it always has,
such as incidents of
communicable diseases,
property maintenance
complaints, etc. However,
instead of printing dozens
of copies of these many
reports, these reports will
be posted each month on a
page on the Department Web
site
(www.kanehealth.com/phc.htm),
along with a PDF of the
flash report itself.
Additionally, the topics of
the report will make up the
bulk of topics in future
editions of this electronic
newsletter “Health Matters.”
This way, we can be sure
that the information that is
important to our partners,
policy makers and citizens
of Kane County is easily
accessible, while being kind
to our environment. |
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Report for 1-25-11 in pdf |
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Kane
County is updating its
master land-use plan and, as
it sets its sights 30 years
into the future, planners
will highlight the impact of
land-use decisions on its
residents’ health. Just as
transportation plans were
recognized to have a huge
bearing on how land should
be developed, Kane County
planners will assess how
land-use decisions as they
draw up the 2040 Land
Resource Management Plan.
Recognizing that the county
is not alone as it plans its
future, it has hosted a
series of planning workshops
for community policy makers.
On Jan. 27, it will continue
this effort by hosting
another in its Healthy
Communities Workshop Series,
at Waubonsee Community
College from 8:30 a.m. to 2
p.m. The keynote address,
“Bring Healthy Living to
Your Communities,” will be
presented by Dr. Richard
Jackson, Professor and Chair
of Environmental Health
Sciences at the School of
Public Health at the
University of California,
Los Angeles. A pediatrician
and public health leader, he
recently served as a
professor at the University
of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and
at the University of
California, Berkeley. He
served in many leadership
positions with the
California Health
Department, including the
highest, State Health
Officer. For nine years he
was Director of the Centers
for Disease Control and
Prevention’s (CDC’s)
National Center for
Environmental Health in
Atlanta. In 2005 he was
recognized with the highest
civilian award for US
Government service, the
Presidential Distinguished
Executive Award. Jackson is
the author of “Making Places
Healthy: Designing and
Building for Health,
Well-Being and
Sustainability,” as well as
an upcoming book and PBS
series, “Designing Healthy
Communities.” Dr. Jackson
spoke at a previous workshop
in May of 2009, when his
address was “Priority
Places: Smart Growth is
Healthy Living.”
Incorporating the impact on
public health into its
land-use decision making is
another example of how Kane
County has made it a
priority to reduce chronic
disease. For example,
designing walkable
neighborhoods and providing
easy access to fresh fruits
and vegetables will battle
the epidemic of obesity,
which contributes to
diabetes, heart disease and
cancer, the goal of the
health Department’s Fit for
Kids initiative.
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Office has plenty of parking, access to public
transportation |
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The Kane County Health
Department has moved its
Elgin office to a new
location at
1750
Grandstand Place. The
new location has plenty of
convenient, on-site parking
and is accessible to public
transportation. This
replaces the Elgin
office on Grove
Avenue.
The Health Department, now
celebrating its 25th
anniversary, continues to
provide public health
essential services after its
reduction in staff last
November. Public health
nursing home visits for
first time, high-risk
mothers, and environmental
health services, such as
restaurant inspections, are
both provided out of its
Elgin office. |
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The Health
Department office in Aurora
is still at 1240 N. Highland
Ave., houses the majority of
its staff providing the full
array of disease prevention
and health promotion public
health services.
Both the Elgin and Aurora
offices can be reached by
calling (630) 208-3801. The
Health Department can also
be reached by visiting
kanehealth.com and
clicking on the “contact us”
page. |
Mapquest Link
for
the new Kane County
Health Department
Office
1750 Grandstand Place, Elgin |
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By Uche Onwuta
Epidemiologist |
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The occurrence of 2009 novel H1N1
resulted in the institution of an
active surveillance system in Kane
County to monitor absences due to
Influenza-like illness (ILI) in
schools. Since H1N1 affected
school-aged children in higher
proportions than other age groups,
school absenteeism was recommended
as a way for estimating the
magnitude of Influenza in the
community. Beginning in April of
2009, public schools in Kane County
were required to report daily total
absenteeism as well as absenteeism
due to ILI. This was initially done
by school district health
coordinators daily emailing a
spreadsheet of their school data to
the Health Department. It became
evident that continued daily
reporting using this method could
easily overwhelm the resources of
the Health Department.
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In the fall of 2009, Kane County
Health Department unveiled a
web-based tool for reporting ILI
absenteeism. The goal of this
web-based system was to collect and
analyze school absenteeism data in a
timely, efficient and cost effective
fashion. This system was successful
in reducing staff time spent on
gathering and analyzing the data, as
well as providing support to school
districts in making quick decisions
on school closures when necessary
with real time data. School
districts had the option of
reporting all their schools as a
group, or having each school
reporting directly via the secure
website. School reporters using this
web-based tool reported that it was
easy to use and that they were able
to accomplish their reporting in
less time than the previous emailing
method. The Health Department could
quickly determine schools that had
exceeded a pre-determined threshold
absenteeism level. In addition,
school and district administrators
were able to access their school
data by logging into the site.
Aggregate reports and charts are
also available for school districts
and the county. Access to data on
the ILI web-based tool varied,
depending on the user. District
administrators have access to
aggregate data and charts at the
district level while school
reporters have access to only the
schools they reported. In addition,
the web-based ILI system has been
useful to both the Health Department
and the school districts in alerting
them on possible outbreaks.
The Health Department has adopted
this ILI surveillance system in
monitoring chicken pox cases at
public schools as part of the
Varicella Sentinel Surveillance
Program, another school based
surveillance reporting project in
collaboration with Illinois
Department of Public Health and
Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention. The ILI Web-Based
Surveillance System was recognized
with a Model Practice Award by
National Association of County and
City Health Officials (NACCHO).in
2010.
More information about the flu is
available by visiting
kanehealth.com/flu.htm. |
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