jefferson County Public Health
2012 ANNUAL REPORT
Healthy People Healthy Places In 2012, Jefferson County Public Health introduced Healthy People, Healthy Places, a collaboration of community organizations, government agencies and individuals committed to developing and implementing a community health improvement plan for Jefferson County, Colorado. When community members engage with health data, notice trends and choose health indicators to track, they will have a better understanding of the health issues facing our County and will want to get involved in creating solutions.
Letter from the Executive Director Jefferson County Public Health (JCPH) has focused much of its effort this past year on conducting a community health assessment and compiling the necessary data and health information to produce a community health profile – a health report card of sorts. The title, “Healthy People, Health Places,” reveals an important fact about health: people are only as healthy as the environment that surrounds and supports them allows. Public health has been charged with the responsibility of fulfilling society’s interest in assuring the conditions, including the environments, in which people can be healthy. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is very clear in its description of the role of public health: Public health should prevent epidemics and the spread of disease, protect against environmental hazards, prevent injuries, promote and encourage healthy behaviors, respond to disasters and assist the community in recovery, and assure the quality and accessibility of health services. “ . . . we in the health department and our community In other words, public health cares for the entire community. The community health assessment and community health profile will be valuable tools to help JCPH meet this goal. With these data, and the support of the community and our health partners, we will work to develop a community health improvement plan. The goal of the improvement plan will be the creation of healthier places and healthier people in Jefferson County.
partners will be looking for effective solutions to include in the development of a 5-year community health improvement plan. . . . I invite you, your family and your friends to join us in this endeavor. Please visit www.healthypeoplehealthyplacesjeffco.com to find out how.”
I anticipate that these studies will show that Jefferson County is a healthy place, for the most part, but that we do have some problematic issues. We already know that tobacco and obesity are hurting our community. We know that where a person lives in the county affects his or her health. We know that access to quality health care and nourishing foods is not readily available to all in our community. The question is, what are we going to do about it? During the upcoming year, we in the health department and our community partners will be looking for effective solutions to include in the development of a 5-year community health improvement plan. We will be looking to the community to help create this plan and to help us implement it. I invite you, your family and your friends to join us in this endeavor. Please visit www.healthypeoplehealthyplacesjeffco.com to find out how.
Mark B. Johnson, MD, MPH, Executive Director