Good News for Childhood Obesity Battle
Photo by Lori Yerdon used with Creative Commons permission
This article on CNN.com shows that for the first time in many years, we may be stemming the tide of childhood obesity. For the last decade, public health organizations and health care providers have been searching for interventions to fight the obesity epidemic that has swept the nation, particularly the southeastern US. While many programs and projects have been tried, some successful and some not, the overall effort and attention that this chronic condition has received is apparently working.
This limited success, if we can qualify it as such, highlights the need for us to perform periodic community health assessments (CHAs) where we live, work and play. These assessments are used to illuminate our collective health status as a community and serve to inform leaders and decisions makers about gaps in services or needs that should be addressed to immediately affect health outcomes. Childhood obesity is a great example of a chronic condition that will endanger a generation of adults if not for evidence-based programs tailored to individual communities.
AscentHealth Consulting is uniquely qualified to take data sources, much like the ones referenced in the article above, to qualitatively and quantitatively inform organizations about snapshot health trends to help guide future programs and services. By understanding disease rates and comparisons, hospitals, health departments and community-based organizations can use CHAs to find the true needs and equip themselves to address them in the future. Timely, descriptive information that makes a difference — that is the passion and goal of AscentHealth.
If you are interested in discussing how a Community Health Needs Assessment and related planning activities can help your organization make a greater impact, please contact Mary Coyne at (806) 670-7440 or Mary@AscentHealthConsulting.com
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