Parents agree feeding and sleep schedules are important to help keep their children healthy. The same goes for childhood immunizations. Vaccinating children on time is the best way to protect them from 14 serious and potentially deadly diseases before their second birthday. “The recommended immunization schedule is designed to offer protection early in life when babies [...]
Parents consider healthcare professionals one of the most trusted sources for answering questions and addressing concerns about their child’s health. A recent survey on parents’ attitudes, knowledge, and behaviors regarding vaccines for young children – including vaccine safety and trust – found 8 out of 10 parents consider pediatric health care professionals to be one of [...]
HPV vaccination is recommended for preteen girls and boys at age 11 to 12. If your son or daughter hasn’t started or finished the HPV vaccine series yet, it’s not too late! Now is a good time to ask their doctor or nurse about vaccines for your preteens and teens. HPV is short for human papillomavirus. [...]
Summer is officially here, and we’re all looking for ways to quench our thirst and beat the heat. While old-fashioned H2O is a tried-and-true hydration method, sometimes you want something a little bit more exciting! Now that we are more aware of the health consequences of sugary drinks such as soda and juice, finding healthier alternatives [...]
You are probably familiar with cigarettes and tobacco dip. It’s been around for a quite a while. You might have even recently heard of electronic cigarettes or e-cigarettes, but do you know what JUUL is? No fret, I hadn’t heard of JUUL or how widespread it was until a couple of weeks ago.  Let’s go [...]
Most people know that tobacco causes a variety of health problems and that nicotine, the addictive chemical found in cigarettes, is at the root of many of these health problems. However, this wasn’t always public knowledge. Researchers were hired by tobacco companies to study nicotine and its effects but weren’t allowed to publish their findings. Earlier [...]
With longer days and warmer weather, the summer months beckon us outside to enjoy picnics, pools, and parks. Most people know to protect their skin from the sun’s damaging rays by slathering on the sunscreen. Many may not realize the same UV radiation can also harm the eyes year-round. Wednesday, June 27th is National Sunglasses Day, which celebrates [...]
A Community Health Improvement Plan, or CHIP, is a long-term, systematic effort to address public health problems on the basis of the results of community health assessment (CHA) activities and the community health improvement process. Community Health Assessments (CHA) The Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB) describes the purpose of a community health assessment (CHA) in their [...]
Are you going to a multiple-day conference soon? Rebecca Thomas recently attended the Florida Rural Health Association’s Annual Educational Summit. Here are her conference survival tips, especially useful if you’re an exhibitor at one of our events: A couple months ago, I attended the Florida Rural Health Association Summit at the Rosen Plaza in beautiful Orlando, [...]
April 15-21 is National Volunteer Week. To kick things off, we are highlighting a program in the community that SRAHEC started in 2015 to help the homeless and near-homeless in Gainesville quit tobacco. The transient nature of homelessness makes it challenging to get a good estimate of the number of homeless individuals in the U.S. Estimates [...]