The annual update of the Health Education Publications Catalog, which includes all the educational materials from the Washington Department of Health, is now available. It’s online on the H.E.R.E. web site, and also as a CD. The catalog has active links to a wide variety of web sites and printer-ready versions of many materials. Search the catalog by clicking on a subject heading, or use the “Find” feature in Word to locate a publication by a particular word, subject, or publication number.
It’s best to download and save either of these large Microsoft Word files to your computer’s hard drive. To request a single copy of the CD, please send an email to penny.hetzel@doh.wa.gov Contact jennifer.livingston@doh.wa.gov or by phone at 360-236-3709 with any questions about the catalog. We always appreciate your feedback.
Over the next few weeks the H.E.R.E. team and DOH technical staff will be upgrading the H.E.R.E. web site databases and making a host of changes. We are adding some new features based on what our users have told us they want. For example, a new search engine will allow you to search the entire site at once and get a list of related items from all the different databases. There will be more direct links to other web resources, improvements to the calendar, and some changes to the layout.
From now until the end of November we won't add any new resources, so we can test everything and work out the bugs. We hope to go online with the new, improved web site before the end of the year. We'll let you know by e-mail when we go live, to remind you to change any bookmarks in your web browser.
If you are interested in helping us test the new features please send e-mail to here@doh.wa.gov
Martin
Yanez is the Project Coordinator for the Northwest Communities Education
Center, affiliated with Radio Cadena (KDNA)
in Granger, Washington. He has
worked actively for the health of farmworkers and Latino communities in Eastern
Washington for decades.
Born in Texas, Martin traveled with his family across the United States to do farm work.
“When I was a kid, nobody had any idea about pesticides. I remember times being engulfed with a white mist. We handled bags of pesticides with no gloves or protective clothing,” he recalled about early exposures to toxins. He has vivid memories of the conditions his and other families experienced. “Sometimes we slept under bridges, in chicken coops, and in crowded labor camps on the floor. Sometimes we lived in a railroad car with three other families. The pay was miserable,” he said.
Martin’s mother insisted that her children enroll in school wherever the family traveled, even if it was only for a few weeks. Experiences with unfair and unsafe labor practices fueled his desire to get a college education, and he graduated from Central Washington University with a degree in English and Spanish. Following stints as a high school teacher, a grant writer, and director of a family center in Granger, he did graduate work at the University of Washington and followed his passion for community organizing and helping farmworkers get needed health and educational services. In 1971, Martin became executive director of Northwest Rural Opportunities, which later became the Washington State Migrant Council.
“In my view all social change is a continual challenge. It has no end. It includes all races for the brotherhood and sisterhood of all,” he said. “There is still so much to be done to improve the lives of farmworkers—increasing numbers of immigrants are exposed to pesticides and contaminated drinking water, and they lack fair housing and medical care.”
His varied career has also included working for the state Department of Labor and Industries to ensure fair treatment for farmworkers, and directing a program at Central Washington University to recruit youth from farmworker families to enroll in college. Among numerous civic activities, Martin was appointed by the Governor to the Washington State Health Planning Committee, he coordinated voter education for the United Farm Workers, and was a member of the first Washington State Mexican-American Commission. He also serves on the Hanford Advisory Board.
One of Martin's current projects is working to educate Hispanics about the risks of tobacco use. He’s involved with the Department of Health’s Cross Cultural Workgroup on Tobacco and is partnering with the American Lung Association in Yakima to provide tobacco prevention education through radio shows and cessation classes.
Martin advises people who are going into a public health career to “allow the community to participate in the decision-making process of determining and defining public health issues. I still find many barriers such as language, culture, institutional racism, and poverty. These barriers can be overcome, if we want to.” He also advises people to keep a sense of humor. “You have to, otherwise you don’t make it.”
When asked about the future challenges for health educators and public health, Martin wrote, “The ever-increasing number of minority populations, especially in the number of Mexican-born immigrants, pose some very difficult challenges. Culture and language will be even bigger issues if we do not find ways to train bilingual professionals in public health. Public health institutions will need to find ways to connect and relate that are relevant and sensitive to communities.” He also believes universal health insurance is a big need.
When Martin has spare time, he likes to garden and read. He can advise on community organizing, understanding Hispanic culture and Spanish language, strategies for using the media, the development of health education materials for Latino audiences, and grant writing. You can reach Martin either by phone at 509-854-2222 or by email myanez@kdna.org
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Environmental Health Skagit County – Skagit County Tells how the Environmental Health Program can work with the public to protect the environment. |
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Hazardous Chemicals in Your Home – Spokane County Help with identification, precautions, safer alternatives, and disposal locations for hazardous chemicals. |
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Quality Child Care – Skagit County Covers access, demographics, quality and funding issues, plus how to find child care. |
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Skagit County in Transition: Demography 2003 – Skagit County Gives details on population and economic factors affecting the county. |
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Skagit County on the
Move: Physical Activity and Your Health – Skagit County Promotes the benefits of physical activity, gives local resources for exercise options. |
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Skagit County’s Younger Older Population – Skagit County Provides extensive information on topics to promote healthy aging. |
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Stop! Do Not Share!
– King County Discourages sharing drug paraphernalia. Encourages using clean works. |
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Syringes: Where to Get Them… How to Dispose of Them… - King County Describes risks of injecting drugs. Provides harm reduction information and resources. |
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The Point is the
Point! Turn em Back in With Care – King County Gives tips to reduce the risk of needle sticks caused by exposed or broken-off syringe points. |
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Trail to Treatment – King County Helps staff get their clients into drug and alcohol treatment. |
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What Should I Use to Wash My Hands? – Pierce County Emphasizes that plain soap, not antibacterial soap, is best for hand washing. |
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Yellowjackets
– Spokane County Advises on yellowjacket identification, sting prevention, trapping and removal. |
Land of Opportunity: the 2003 Washington
State Trails Conference – Whidbey Island – November 14-15, 2003
Hearing Conservation –
a seminar on hearing loss prevention strategies - Seattle – November 17, 2003
Countering Anti-Vaccine Myths – satellite broadcast –
November 20, 2003
Do you have a community project to add?
Submission Form -- Community Projects
Do you have health education materials to add?
Submission Form -- Materials Exchange
Would you like to be added to H.E.R.E. in
WA and receive this newsletter monthly?
Add Yourself to the H.E.R.E. Rolodex
H.E.R.E. in WA Team
Office of Health Promotion
Washington State Department of Health
Jennifer Livingston, Theresa Fuller,
and Don Martin
PO Box 47833
Olympia, WA 98504-7833
(360) 236-3736
HERE@doh.wa.gov