Sandra Melstad
2023 in Review....Partnerships

As 2023 comes to a close, a keyword foundational to public health that keeps emerging across the field is “partnerships”.

2023 in Review....Partnerships
Sandra Melstad
Developing an Action Plan with a Health Equity ...

Perhaps you are at the point where program or initiative is being planned or revised to address identified issues, priorities have been determined to address those issues, and now the task at hand is to develop an action plan to address those priorities and issues. But first, to move forward, it is important to recognize that to make an impact on priority issues/problems, addressing health inequities and their root causes are key.

Developing an Action Plan with a Health Equity Lens
Sandra Melstad
Health Inequities Show True Colors in ...

As March 2020 comes to a close, the world is experiencing unprecedented times due to the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 does not discriminate and people of all color, races, gender, income, celebrity status, religion, geographic locations are being impacted worldwide. However, what does discriminate and is showing its true colors, is health inequity.

Health Inequities Show True Colors in Unprecedented Times
Sandra Melstad
Public Health 3.0: A New Opportunity to Address ...

There are a wealth of activities happening across rural American working to address and improve health outcomes, including community gardens to increase access to healthy foods, economic development to invest in healthy community design, and utilization of local wellness coalitions to take action to address local health. However, increasing globalization and the growing impact of social, economic, and environmental factors on global health, calls for expansion of the scope and reach of population health approaches to improve health outcomes across rural America.

Public Health 3.0: A New Opportunity to Address Health in Rural America for Science, Action, & Health
Sandra Melstad
Reflection: Looking Back to Look to the Future ...

With 2018 wrapping and it is important to reflect on the breadth of efforts taking place across the nation to address population focused on improving the health of individuals where they live, work, learn, and play.

Reflection: Looking Back to Look to the Future of Public Health

Addressing Population Health Through Higher Education:

Addressing Population Health Through Higher Education:

Q/A with Chelsea Wesner, MPH, MSW, Instructor, Master of Public Health Program, School of Health Sciences - University of South Dakota

1.     What is your role with addressing population health through higher education?

I’m a faculty member in the joint University of South Dakota-South Dakota State University Master of Public Health program, in which my role as an instructor includes the tripartite mission: teaching, research, and service. My role in addressing population health through graduate education is designing learning experiences, in which students become public health practitioners in local community. To do this, we engage directly with community initiatives and organizations through service learning and community-based projects.

Factors that Affect Health…They Are All Around

Factors that Affect Health…They Are All Around

Considering the recent natural disasters affecting people around the world; it is a good reminder to underscore the factors that affect health beyond just health behaviors. Look around you – where you live, work, learn, and play -  are there factors that affect your ability, your neighbors, or your community’s ability to be healthy? Those factors or often referred to as social determinants of health, including education, income, access to care, etc., affect a wide range of health, function, and quality-of-life outcomes.

Collaborations Within the Built Environment: Helping Residents Move Well, Live Well

Collaborations Within the Built Environment: Helping Residents Move Well, Live Well

According to the National Prevention Council, a key goal for promoting health and well-being in our country is ensuring “all residents live, work, and learn in an environment that provides safe and accessible options for physical activity, regardless of age, income, or disability status.”

Our built environment includes physical resources such as buildings, homes, roads, utilities, sidewalks, parks, open spaces and other amenities within communities. Improving the built environment supports the integration of physical activity into our daily routines like walking or biking to work, school, grocery stores or parks.

“Bridging the Gap”…The Importance of Multi-Sector Collaborations to Affect Change in Population Health

“Bridging the Gap”…The Importance of Multi-Sector Collaborations to Affect Change in Population Health

Over that past few months, I have had the opportunity to learn and engage with a diverse group of professionals at national, state, and local conferences focused on a common theme – the “why” and “how” to engage in multi-sector collaboration to improve population health.  If you have been paying attention, this theme is emerging in some facet in conferences being held across the nation this year – e.g. NACCHO Annual 2017:  Bridging Clinical Medicine and Population Health or the 2017 Practical Playbook National Meeting: Improving Population Health, Collaborative Strategies that Work.

How Workplace Wellness Improves Population Health by Guest Blogger: Carol Spader

How Workplace Wellness Improves Population Health by Guest Blogger: Carol Spader

Population health is concerned with improving the health of an entire human population, typically by focusing on three, main components: health outcomes, the ecosystems that people exist in like social, environmental and cultural, and finally policies and interventions aimed at improving or maintaining positive health and well-being.  With 159 million workers in the U.S., (US Bureau of Labor Statistics, April 12, 2016), I don’t think anyone can argue that the workplace is a significant context that individuals are embedded in addition to their families, communities, cultures and social networks. Work, along with its’ environment, policies and practices impacts the health behaviors of individuals and health impacts work.

Data: A Powerful Vehicle for Understanding the Health of Populations

Data: A Powerful Vehicle for Understanding the Health of Populations

Data… it can often be a daunting or sleep-inducing word for many. However, if you are new to public health practice or have been working in the field for many years, data can be a powerful vehicle for understanding the health of populations --- highlighting both the existence of problems and opportunities for improvement. Data can influence health and wellness and play a vital role in addressing the health of a community. Over time, the connection between health and data has evolved, increasing access to data and information to better understand factors that affect the health of populations and evidence-based strategies to address health issues. Data can affect change, including: