Live Healthy Summit County!  is not only for those who are doing healthful actions, but it is also for those who plan to include more healthful actions in their daily life.  Through a healthy lifestyle you will have more energy, better health and be happier.  Live Healthy Summit County! is sponsored by the Center for Community Health Improvement (CCHI) of the Austen BioInnovation Institute of Akron (ABIA) and a host of community partners

 

My Family Health Portrait

Make 2014 the year you collect your family health information, which can help your doctor decide which tests and screenings are recommended to help you know your health risks. The updated Surgeon General’s My Family Health Portrait tool can help you and your family to collect and organize family health history information and allows you to share this information easily with your doctor.  Additional information can be found at http://www.cdc.gov/Features/FamilyHealthHistory/.

SAMHSA Supporting Wellness in 2014  

It’s the New Year! As we begin 2014, many people will make New Year’s resolutions, including aims to increase physical activity, quit smoking, eat healthier foods, save money, seek more education, and reduce, reuse, and recycle.

SAMHSA’s Wellness Initiative encourages year-round wellness and planning for gradual changes to improve behaviors within all of the Eight Dimensions of Wellness. As you set and work toward goals for the New Year, seek support from others if you need it.

 

► The Guide to Community Preventive Services: The Community Guide is a collection of all the evidence-based findings of the Community Preventive Services Task Force. It can help you make decisions by providing information on community preventive services programs and policies that have been shown to work, and how they may fit the needs of your community.

Tobacco Free: Check out this link for more information and tools on living tobacco free.

►Centers for Disease Control (CDC): Official website of the CDC and an online source for credible health information

→ And for useful mobile apps from the CDC, visit this website.

►American Diabetes Resources: Check this out for more information on the insurance marketplace for diabetics (for Spanish, click here). For updates on insurance issues for people with diabetes, visit this resource. (for Spanish, click here). Together these documents explain which parts of the law are already in place, which will become effective in January 2014 and how people who are not currently insured can find help.

►It’s that time again…visit this resource from the American Public Health Association to protect yourself and your family from the upcoming flu season.

 

Is your organization interested in learning how to locate reliable health information?         

Don’t make your health decisions based on a Google search.  Use your local library as a trusted and credible resource for health information.

Librarians from the Akron-Summit County Public Library’s Science & Technology Division can come to your business or classroom to provide instruction on using e-books, databases and web sites to find the latest and most reliable health information.  In addition to holding a Master of Library and Information Science degree, all of the Library’s Science & Technology librarians are certified by the Medical Library Association as Consumer Health Information Specialists.

To learn more about this great program opportunity, contact Monique Mason at 330-643-9087 or mmason@akronlibrary.org to schedule a no-cost training session at your business or at the Main Library of the Akron-Summit County Public Library system.

The link to our upcoming Health Information Center programs is http://ascplhealth.akronlibrary.org/classes/

Community Updates –

Akron Public Schools – District-wide Safe Routes to School Program

A collaboration of Akron Public Schools, ODOT, AMATS & the City of Akron to begin a review of the 41 K-8 schools and their neighborhoods for walkability and bike ability, and develop programs and plan infrastructure improvements to enable more kids to be able to walk or bike to school. Akron is one of four districts in Ohio to do this. For more information contact Andy Davis at adavis@akronohio.gov or call (330) 375-2851.

Recent Built Environment Projects

In conjunction with the message given by Mark Fenton at the recent ABIA Workshop on the built environment this past summer, the City of Akron is completing two roadway projects that employ a “road diet”.  Copley Road (I-77 to Storer) and Wilbeth Road (Manchester to Dallas) were both restriped to incorporate two through lanes, one two-way left turn lane, and bike lanes. The “road diet” is a means of substantially reducing traffic accidents and at the same time improving conditions for walking and biking.  The Wilbeth Road project connects Firestone Park and the new Bridgestone Headquarters to the Towpath Trail.  The Copley Road project provides added safety for the pedestrians, especially school kids.          

We want to improve health of the people of Summit County. You can be in one or all of these programs:

  • healthy eating,
  • active living, and
  • tobacco-free living

Within these web pages you will be able to:

  • view success stories about healthy living, and
  • learn about better health information.

The choice is yours. Your family, friends and those at work might want to join you in healthy activities.

Become a health champion and help spread the word! Share the accomplishments you are making and read about local success stories and programs at www.livehealthysummit.com and visit us on Facebook and Twitter to find practical advice you can put to use on your path to living healthy.