This issue of the H.E.R.E. inWashington newsletter marks the unveiling of a major technical upgrade to Washington's online health promotion clearinghouse. The newsletter was suspended for several months while we worked on the website conversion. We're happy to announce the return of this periodic email bulletin, along with information about some improvements that will make your visits to the website easier and more informative.
The Health Education Resource Exchange (H.E.R.E.) clearinghouse has gone through a technical upgrade and added several new features in response to customer requests. This comprehensive, online resource of health education projects and tools is hosted by the Office of Health Promotion, Washington Department of Health (DOH).
The new H.E.R.E. home page is located at www3.doh.wa.gov/here. For quick and easy access, update your bookmarks (URLs) in your web browser for the H.E.R.E. home page and all secondary pages.
Users can now search the entire web site from one spot. Search results provide a single list of entries in seven major databases, from community projects to local educational materials, and from camera-ready brochures to training opportunities. Several of the web pages have a new look, additional search options, and streamlined organization. In
addition to new features, there are many new entries, too.
Whether you are visiting this unique health promotion resource for the first time, or reacquainting yourself, the H.E.R.E. team encourages you to contact them with any ideas or comments by emailing
here@doh.wa.gov or calling 360-236-3736.
With boomers fast approaching senior status, Washington is one of the most rapidly aging states in the nation. Helping older adults stay healthy and independent while aging is paramount to protecting and improving health and quality of life for all residents.
Toward that end, DOH’s Healthy Aging Action Team has identified nine evidence-based Steps to Healthy Aging as important ways adults can prevent or delay the onset of leading age-related chronic conditions — including heart disease, cancer, obesity, stroke, diabetes, arthritis, falls and fractures, dental problems, and depression. Information and supportive resources in Washington are available on the new healthy aging web site, hosted by the Office of Health Promotion.
The booklet, Healthy Aging in Washington State — the Need for
Action, is also available on the web site. It contains data on health and cost trends, and recommendations for policy
and environmental changes to support older adults in maintaining healthy
behaviors. To order hard copies, call
360-236-3736. Please share the web resources and the booklet with organizations
and older adults in your community.
The Camera Ready Materials section is one of the most popular features of the H.E.R.E. web site. It contains high quality PDF files of Department of Health educational materials. You can still order printed copies of most DOH materials from our warehouse, but if you need something immediately, this database allows you to open, view and print it at your desktop. Our goal is to have all DOH educational materials available online in one place, and at least 80% of them by next year.
A new group of educational materials is now available for the first time in the camera-ready database--genetics materials from the Pacific Northwest Regional Genetics Group (PacNoRGG). The H.E.R.E. web site agreed to be the repository for camera-ready versions of information from this group which includes genetics programs in Washington, Oregon, Alaska and Idaho. We'll be adding many more of the PacNoRGG genetics materials in the near future.
Sara Swanson is a health educator at Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center in Seattle, a position she considered a dream job when she was studying health education in college. She started out in nursing school, but discovered a passion for health, not sickness, and realized she wanted to teach. She changed majors and earned a degree in Community Health Education from Central Washington University in 1983, and her
CHES credentials in 1991.
Sara began her career in Spokane with the American Lung Association, giving community presentations on air pollution and choking prevention, and running their first asthma camp. She moved to Seattle and was the Director of the Lung Disease Program for 10 years. The focus of her current job at Children’s Hospital is the Health and Patient Education Materials web site. "I am continually learning to stretch my mind to keep up with computer technology," she said, and chuckled, “for someone who could barely figure out how to operate her home DVD player, now I can encode a VHS videotape to digital MPEG 2, write brochures in html, and enable databases to work in a SQL environment.”
Another educational technology Sara mastered is the closed circuit, on-demand television system at Children’s. Patients using the system can chose patient education programming on a wide range of topics, including asthma,
ostomy care, breastfeeding, diabetes, safety and parenting. These programs reinforce staff education and give patients an opportunity to learn at their own convenience.
The Children’s clinical staff rely on Sara for advice on the best ways to reach patients. She works to ensure that there are staff trainings on the patient learning process, with topics like motivational interviewing and age-appropriate teaching strategies. Sara also edits patient education handouts, putting the drafts written by nurses and doctors into clear, family-friendly language. She built and maintains a database of patient education materials, so staff can easily order brochures. In
addition to clinical staff, she communicates with and relies on a variety of programs, including engineering, Family Support Services, shipping and receiving, and the Web Team. “Health education in a hospital setting cannot occur in a vacuum,” she said.
One of her great passions is speaking on behalf of patients and families to ensure they get clear messages and instructions they can follow. Sara loves “passing on knowledge and seeing a child’s reaction when she first feels her inhaler work correctly or the smile when you’ve just taught him how to wear his helmet so it protects all those brains in his forehead!”
Sara wishes a mentor had advised her years ago to “take that stats class and learn your health education theories, because they really ARE used every day in this field!” She can offer advice on writing and editing health education materials, childhood asthma education, database and cataloging systems, educational approaches with closed circuit TV, and teaching school health education. Now that her sons are teens, she has more time to pursue her love of playing soccer, walking her chocolate lab, and knitting on rainy days. You can reach Sara by email at
sara.swanson@seattlechildrens.org
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Gamble S'Klallam Young Women's Support Group Peer support groups combined health education with Native American speakers and traditional blanket making. |
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Celebrating Beautiful Women – Lincoln County Health Department Calendar features local breast cancer survivors, gives tips for healthy living. |
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Certain Foods Can Harm Pregnant Women and their Newborns - Public Health
Seattle and King County Advises pregnant women how to avoid a Listeria infection. |
| ● | Healthy Lifestyle:
Helpful Ideas From Parents – Children’s Hospital Gives parents suggestions for helping children eat healthy food and increase exercise. |
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Injury
Prevention Packet for Children with Special Health Care Needs - Children’s
Hospital Contains safety tip sheets for children with various health conditions. |
| ● | If Your Clothes or
Hair are on Fire - Lock, Drop and Roll
- Children’s Hospital Poster shows children with limited mobility how to safely escape a fire. |
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Move Low Under Smoke - Children’s Hospital Shows the proper use of the blanket drag and scooter board fire escape techniques. |
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No Coma Queso Fresco Durante el Embarazo - Public Health Seattle and King
County Poster in Spanish urges women to avoid homemade cheese during pregnancy. |
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Safety Tips for Children with Special Needs - Children’s
Hospital Set of eight tip sheets that cover a variety of safety situations children may encounter. |
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Tips for a Healthy Lifestyle - Children’s Hospital Suggests practical ways parents can make lifestyle changes to improve family members' health. |
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Was My House Used as a Meth Lab? - Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department Helps homeowners look for past methamphetamine lab activity in their house. |
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When You Choose... - Public Health Seattle and
King County A series of eight individual brochures that guides new users on a specific contraceptive method. |
A Small Dose of Toxicology - How Chemicals
Affect Your Health – Seattle – December 1, 2004
ASIST Suicide Prevention Workshop –
Fife, Washington – December 9-10, 2004
Improving Tribal and Local Government Communications – Toppenish,
Washington – December 14,
2004
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 add your name to H.E.R.E. in
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Put me in the
H.E.R.E. Rolodex
H.E.R.E. inWashington newsletter is
distributed every other month by the
Office of Health Promotion
Washington State Department of Health
Jennifer Livingston, Don Martin and
Penny Hetzel
PO Box 47833
Olympia, WA 98504-7833
(360) 236-3736
HERE@doh.wa.gov