What is public health? Wanna find out? Students in the USF Intro to Public Health class have chosen strategic areas in the Tampa Bay community that they feel represent public health in action. This blog is dedicated to explaining, understanding, and discussing what their interpretations of exactly what the heck is.... public health?!



Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Tanning Beds




I think that tanning beds are a huge public health issue for many reasons. It is promoting cancer rays in college campuses. I think that it is horrible selling point for apartment complexes to upsell their place by promoting tanning. You should not have to sell "cancer" to students to sell your product. These days, people think it is attractive to look tan and pretty, and healthy, however; in a week, that tan fades. In return, ten years down the road you will have cancer rays and wrinkly skin.

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

To tan or not to tan? That is the question!



We all know how popular tanning is. Nearly 30 million people tan each year in the U.S. With shows like Jersey Shore that promote tanning to be a hot style, and furthermore, advertise the option of tanning beds, tanning has become a phenomena in our younger generation. Millions of Americans make tanning a priority in their life just to get that “sun kissed” look. We chose tanning beds as our source for “This is Public Health” because people need to be informed and educated on the short and long term effects using a tanning bed can cause. We need to prevent all the harm that is caused by these salons. We chose to place our public health sticker on a tanning bed at 40Fifty Lofts, a popular apartment complex that houses college students. Young adults and college student tends to be the target population to educate on tanning beds and salons. The population of these individuals are growing where now it slowly not only being young adults but teenagers as well.
There are many potential health risks associated with tanning. Although it may make you look and feel beautiful, there are long term affects that you may not be aware of. There’s a belief that indoor tanning is “safer” and does not damage the skin which leads to a more frequent use of these tanning beds. Unfortunately this is not the case. Indoor tanning involves the use of light bulbs which produces ultraviolet rays which can damage skin cells causing premature wrinkles and age spots. One can always look and feel beautiful without harming themselves. There are other options such as sunbathing naturally but with a high UV protection sunblock to still get some rich color and be safe.

Washing your hands to stay healthy

All our lives we have been taught that when we cough or sneeze, touch door handles, use the bathroom, or even every now and then when its been a while; that we should wash our hands. It is important that people keep their hands clean since this is one of the primary mediums through which germs are spread. We are always on the move, touching everything and using our hands all the time. Our group decided to take a picture of a sink at a local frozen yogurt establishment called "you say when". We chose this location because this is a recent food establishment that has opened near campus, and has become a popular place for many college students. In this domain of yogurt treats, there is a buffet style of toppings for your ice cream that you put on yourself, hence the name "you say when". The importance of the sink is so that the employees can wash their hands before and after handing out samples and while helping customers choose their yogurt dish. This addition of a sink helps prevent the spread of infections by the simplest of means... a simple hand washing. It is important to wash hands to help reduce the spread of germs and infections. It has been made law that food establishments must have their employees wash their hands before putting gloves on, after taking gloves off, when they are about to use the cash register, and every so often just to ensure a healthy and clean environment for everyone. By requiring employees to wash their hands, and encouraging customers to do the same, we are saving the trip to the doctor of potentially getting sick by transmitting germs, reducing costs, and ensuring our health. Who do we have to thank for this? None other than public health, helping keep the community informed and up to date on how to prevent the spread of infections, and introducing laws that require employees to wash hands, and encouraging the rest of us to do it as well.

Picture taken at "You say when" on fowler. In the picture: Neeti Pradeep, Jerin Madhavappallil, Taken by Michael Rojek

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Contagion


The place that we chose to place our public health sticker was the Muvico Starlight 20 movie theater. The reason we picked this location is because of the movie, "Contagion" that premiered on Friday, September 9, 2011. This movie is about the bird flu and how when it first showed up, it took the world by storm. Most people did not understand the disease or how it was being transmitted, and this caused terror and fear around the world. Also because of this, the transmission was causing death and the officials were not sure how serious the disease was or how to stop it. The fact that the disease could be turned into a weapon was a scary thought, for not only officials, but the community as well. With the way that the disease was going, it was transforming itself into more resistant strands. This represents public health because the whole movie is about controlling this strand of bird flu and trying to keep the public safe and healthy, and this is the main goal of public health. During the movie, they are using epidemiology to find out the source of the disease, and to find a cure, treatment, and a vaccine for this disease. Also during the movie, they are trying to let the public know what is going on in order to keep them safe, so they know how to protect themselves. This is important because it is the job of public health to keep the public safe and informed about diseases.

Group Members:

Kayla Pinckney

Amanda Stevens

Alexandra (Sandy) Szymanski

Jessica Horal

Think Before You Throw! Don't Litter



It's safe to assume that the majority of us have littered at least once in our life. We probably never thought about what happens to that gum wrapper or cigarette butt when we throw it out of our car window; maybe it gets washed away or swept up, but our small bit of litter definitely doesn't make a difference right? Wrong. Every time we litter we are contributing to the slow-but-sure degeneration of our planet.

We chose to place our This is Public Health Sticker on a sign for the "Think Before You Throw" anti-litter campaign that promotes awareness of how our actions affect our environment. It's no secret that the streets of Tampa are full of litter and garbage, we can see that everyday driving to and from school. We placed the sticker on a sign near the corner of Bruce B. Downs blvd. and Fowler ave. in Tampa.

This is important to Public Health because it is a major source of urban pollution, and it happens every day. Litter creates an eye-sore for any community, affects the wildlife, clogs the storm water drains, and wastewater collection systems, ultimately affecting our health in a negative way. Not to mention it's expensive to clean up. The funny thing is, that for a problem as huge as the amount of litter and garbage that floods our roads, the solution is simple...Don't Litter! Statistics show that people litter because it's convenient and that they believe someone will pick up after them. If drivers and pedestrians would just "think before they throw" and realize that it isn't anymore convenient to toss your garbage out the window than it is to keep a plastic bag in your car to collect garbage and take it inside to dispose once you get home or to wherever you're going, the Tampa Bay area would be a lot cleaner. Campaigns such as this are great visual reminders to keep ourselves in check when driving and walking, and to be conscious of how our actions affect our community.


By: Mohammed Elshaer, Gurtej (TJ) Walha, Samantha Restivo, Alex Moore-Brocato, and Zachary Senter (photographer)

Food Scavengers in Downtown St. Pete


How many of you have ever eaten from a hot dog stand in the middle of downtown St. Pete? Probably not many, because this is not the typical site to see when walking amongst several business professionals entangled with the waitresses and homeless people downtown seems to attract. Not to mention dozens of tourists that fill the busy streets and sidewalks throughout the season. Well economically Mr. John, the owner of the convenient hot dog stand our group ran into, has become extremely successful. John has a portable hot dog stand where he serves well… hot dogs. He also serves drinks and provides condiments, napkins, and utensils to eat with. If this doesn’t scream out to you PUBLIC HEALTH, than I’m not sure it exists. We chose this location because it was in the middle of down town. It is a fast, cheap, and convenient way to grab lunch on the go. We found it interesting how John made every attempt necessary to stay sanitary and well kept. He had a hand washing station on his cart with soap and paper towels. John wore gloves when preparing a meal and changed his gloved in-between uses. John had a cooler with ice, where he kept the drinks, as well as the meat not yet used. He provided costumers with a trash can to eliminate pollution and trash on the streets. I think he does an amazing job with delivering people with affordable and decent food, being that it comes from a mobile cart on the side of the street.

By: Alyssa Bedard, Andrew Laughery, Kim Tran and Ariana Neddermann

Fight the Germs with Sanitizing Wipes!


We chose to place our public health sticker on shopping cart disinfect wipes in shopping centers. This location seemed fit for the project because hundreds of people are touching the shopping carts daily and this can be a health hazard not only because germs are being spread from hand to hand but also because the germs are around all of the food in the store. This represents a public health issue because direct contact is an easy way for germs to be spread. Researchers say that shopping cart handles are one of the dirtiest surfaces in the public health world, and cleaning them can only be beneficial. Germs being spread is an important issue because if one person goes into the store infected with something it can spread quickly due to all the contact with the shopping carts. In comparison to using hand sanitizer rather than sanitizing wipes, you can wash your hands and the handle on the cart so it is more likely for the germs to be killed with a wipe. The H1N1 virus was when the sanitizing wipes became present in the shopping centers and the wipes were used not only as a precaution of spreading the germs, but from killing them as well. Although there is still a 99.9% probability that the germs will all be killed with the sanitizing wipes, there is a still a small chance that germs can be passed on. With this being said it is important to take notice to the primary prevention measures and continue to wash your hands and the shopping cart handles.


By: Taylor Philipson, Eric Eshelman, and Brittany Dickinson

New Age Firefighters Fight More Than Fires



With the September 11th ten year anniversary, we decided to acknowledge the fire departments as our public health issue. We placed our sticker at the Temple Terrace Fire Department, one of the many departments across the country helping citizens in their community. Every year fire departments across the country are responding to fires and various kinds of emergencies to help protect the health of civilians. They are the first to appear after a car accident and have firefighter EMT’s and Paramedics on standby for medical emergencies. They also do routine fire inspections for businesses, schools and even our homes while also advocating fire and safety rules to the community. Not many people realize the risks that firefighters are exposing themselves to everyday, to better the health and safety of others. What people do not realize either is that there are many volunteer firefighters who do the job as any paid firefighter, without compensation. Firefighters, EMT’s and Paramedics go through extensive training and are very educated to ensure our public safety. The main issue is that many firefighters are losing their jobs, or many people are not being hired due to budget cuts. Although there are thousands of volunteer firefighters to help out the situation, it is becoming more difficult to recruit new firefighters or volunteers. One of the main reasons is the time and commitment required for the job especially being only a volunteer and doubts on whether an upcoming firefighter is going to be able to obtain a job. Many fire departments are becoming county wide instead of being local, as part of the budget cuts as well. Cutting back on the number of firefighters means less help and slower response time for civilians in the community who are in need. Overall, having Fire Departments in our community is beneficial for our health and safety. Without them, our lives would seriously be at risk.

By: Elissa Kozey, Brittany King, Matt Newberry, Erica Laza (Photographer)

Monday, September 12, 2011

Strap In—Like Frankie the Bear!


Remember the days as a toddler when we would go grocery shopping with our family and think we were in food heaven? We wanted to run wild and free and touch everything in our sight. Our parents would place us in the cart and expect us to stay put and not move. However, we would still reach as far as we could, our bodies halfway out the cart, to touch everything down the aisle. We were willing to risk our lives at the thought of adventure. For this exact reason our group chose the seatbelt of a shopping cart in the SweetBay market off of Fowler Street as our public health example.

Seatbelts in shopping carts are a necessary preventative measure for the safety of children. These straps greatly help the parents during shopping as a child can be kept in one spot without possible injury. The parents have increased mobility since they can step away from the cart for a moment to grab an item, without having to worry about a possible horror accident. Keeping the child in one area ensures that he or she can’t wander off alone as a parents’ full attention cannot be on the child while shopping. The seatbelt allows the customer to enjoy their experience more and everyone will benefit.

A key essential for safety is providing a spot just for the little one on the cart. The larger area of the cart isn’t secure, children could easily fall out if they stood up, and they would not be within reaching distance of Mom or Dad while the parent pushed the cart.

We noticed that some of the shopping carts’ seat belts were frayed and broken, a public health concern. These seat belts are there for the safety of the child, but if unusable a child’s health and even life could be endangered. Stores ought to properly maintain the seatbelts on these carts. This is a major liability for the store and if an accident were to occur the store could possibly face lawsuits. As a customer we expect the best service possible because we deserve that and we want to ensure our safety for our family is taken into consideration.

An example of how important the seatbelt of a shopping cart is was shared from one of our group members. When the group member’s brother was a couple years old, he was sitting in a shopping cart without the seatbelt on. His mother had turned away for a moment to grab an item off the shelf. In this short space of time, the energetic little boy disobeyed his mother’s command to sit still in the cart (of course). He stood up quickly, placing his little hands on the edge of the cart rail to peer around. But with his young clumsiness, he misjudged his balance and tumbled out of the cart onto the linoleum floor of the supermarket. The first-time mother’s heart stopped when she heard his fall, but miraculously, the young one was uninjured. From then on, she always strapped her child into the cart. When you go shopping make sure to grab a cart with a working seatbelt and look out for your child or loved ones safety!


Group Members : Amanda McElroy, Mitzy Gonzalez, Photographer: Megan Webb

Slow Down for Public Health


We decided to choose a local neighborhood close to University of South Florida’s campus to place our sticker. We stuck our sticker on a designated speed hump within the neighborhood. While taking our picture we chose two locations, a sign stating “Speed Hump 15mph” and the physical speed hump, which are large and clearly warn drivers to exercise caution. This location appealed to our group because we believe that the element of traffic safety was indicative to public health, and it creates a safer environment for pedestrians and the residents. Furthermore, it promotes drivers to be aware of their surroundings and practice more cautious driving habits. It allows for the driver’s to experience increased safety since they are driving at lower speeds.
This is important to public health in various ways. For instance, it promotes a safe environment for local children to be active and play which, from a public health standpoint, makes them less susceptible to the U.S’s growing childhood obesity problem. The speed hump is also largely enforcing and acts as a policing mechanism to slow traffic at places where it is necessary for traffic to be slow. The obvious benefits of a speed hump are that it slows traffic which in turn reduces noise, citizen complaints, and provides accident prevention. Finally the mere presence of a speed hump in a neighborhood provides benefits to the communities mental health, as it provides a general calming feeling to the residents that they can be sure that no speeder’s will be speeding through their community.

Jessica White, Kristen Jadick, Ashley Brogna, Bryan Stevens

Clean Water For Everyone!


Much of the water used in households, businesses, and industries must be treated before it is released back into the community. Wastewater is used water, which includes storm runoff, human waste, food scraps, etc. Treatment plants reduce the amount of pollutants in wastewater so that it is sanitary and safe for humans to use.

Clean water plays a major role in the quality of one’s life. From keeping our bodies hydrated to keeping trees alive, water has a wide range of uses. Since the human body is composed of more than 60% of water, having clean water is a necessity for normal body functions. Without it, we would most likely see an increase of illness and disease such as cholera and e. coli. Thus, cleaning water properly and removing harmful bacteria is a priority for wastewater treatment plants.

Treating wastewater also has many benefits that one might overlook. For example, clean water is critical to plants and animals that live in water, which ultimately benefits the fishing industry. Many consider water to be a playground. Oceans and lakes attract many visitors because of the scenic and recreational opportunities they offer. If oceans and lakes were unsafe to swim in, tourism would decrease severely, thus affecting the economy.

Many pass by wastewater treatment plants every day and do not realize how beneficial places like these are to humans. Wastewater management plays a tremendous role in keeping water clean in the community and environment. This type of water sanitation and sterilization is a step towards prevention of infectious disease and an overall increase of quality of life.


By: Taylor Boggs, Sheryl Campbell, Valerie Dickinson, and Kenneth Little

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Easy as 1, 2, 3 Get Your Flu Shots At CVS Pharmacy

Protecting the health of smaller communities is vital to protecting the health of the nation as a whole. Limiting exposure to unhealthy viruses and detrimental diseases that once cleared populations of individuals is a key aspect to our success as a healthy nation. A collective combination of strategic techniques of primary prevention, such as the flu shot vaccination, allows individuals to take health care into their own hands making preventative measures of disease just as pertinent as treatment which is the overall goal of public health. Through awareness, education, and continued funding of health care programs such as the flu shot vaccines, we can collectively push towards more preventative measures of healthcare lowering the high necessity of treatment.

Flu season is already upon us and has been steadily becoming a problem in the community and on campus. Each year in the US 5 to 10 percent of the population is infected with Influenza and $1.7 Billion is spent on children with the infection. Influenza can lead to pneumonia, bronchitis, and ear infections and over 200,000 people are hospitalized from complications with the flu. This is why vaccination against the newest threat this season is so important to the topic of public health. Vaccination is a vital part of primary prevention of disease, so naturally the choice of a sign promoting this vaccination in the form of the Flu Shot provided at CVS Pharmacy is relevant. Our group chose to place our “This is Public Health Sticker” at CVS located on Fowler Ave. and 30th st. We selected this location as it is in close proximity to USF campus and easily accessible for students and staff, but also for patrons alike. The no appointment walk in type of service at CVS promotes people to get the Flu Shot to slow the rapid spread of the Flu in our community, as they are more likely to get vaccinated if the service is readily available to them.

Hurry in for your vaccination before December as suggested by the CDC. It's only one click away at the link provided http://flushot.cvs.com

Alexander Greene

Amberlyse Guzman

Sheralee Leonardo

Pamela Massenburg

Christina Quinn




Evos: The Healthy Fast Food Place


Healthy and environmentally sound fast food chain, can there even be a place? Yes! We placed our "this is public health" sticker at the Evos fast food chain on Fowler Avenue. We chose this place because of the location's efforts in better and healthier food along with its involvement in the community. Evos is committed to providing on All-American meal that is guilt free, but still delicious! However, it is not just guilt free food that Evos has to offer, it also has a vested interest in its impact on the community.
Well what is so great about the food? One of the many reasons that Evos is a great benefit to its consumer and to public health is its exclusion of deep frying by using an air-baking technique to prepare the fries. Evos eliminates the consumptions of hydrogenated fats, production of waste oil, and reduces the risk of fryer-caused fires. Thus not only are we, who dine at Evos, kept away from unhealthy hydrogenated fats, the community around us is generally safer with a minimized risk of fire and the lack of need to properly dispose of waste oil. Moreover, Evos allows consumers to indulge in products made from organic ingredients, such as shakes and iced teas. That is, Evos provide us with tasty concoctions that are sans artificial additives and genetic modification.
Evos states they raise the animals "naturally". This would have a great contribution for environmental and community health. The lack of hormone and antibiotic meat would provide for a healthier option to fast food, with a greater impact on the community of consumers. The amount of cattle needed would decrease and since the cow/chicken would be free-range, more community benefits. However, Evos says they take a natural approach, not being specific to any free range approach. This would reduce the greenhouse gas and have a lower impact on the environment.
Evos has implemented a few strategies in an effort to make a small, but crucial impact on communities throughout the southeast. For one thing, all of the lights in their restaurant utilize energy efficient light bulbs as well as timing mechanisms to ensure a minimum amount of waste contribution to our city. In addition, the healthier versions of fast food items as well as ready-to-go vegan options make Evos a much better alternative for USF students who need a quick meal. Removing Taco Bell or McDonald’s from someone’s diet certainly promotes a healthier lifestyle. And unlike most fast food joints, Evos lets kids eat free every Sunday, encouraging families to come out and try the wholesome foods they have to offer. Our community will be better off with more children who prefer restaurants like Evos over Burger King. Teaching them healthy eating from a young age can start a trend of adults who eat healthy in the future.
By: Jordan Stumph, Yekaterina Kozyr, McCatty, Chelsea Aasnes

Saturday, September 10, 2011

“Please....Don’t be a litter bug!"


No one wants to drive like there in a video game trying to avoid flying papers, fast food and gum wrappers or broken glass bottles on the road. Providing clean sidewalks for pedestrians and bikers, clean road ways for vehicles, as well as clean beaches is all up to the individuals in the community. Too many people are lazy and carefree and don’t always clean up after themselves. Unfortunately, the trash thrown out of car windows or by insensible pedestrians does not just disappear, but becomes a bigger problem. A Public health problem….
Our public health blog group chose the location right off of Fowler Ave. (exit 51),and placed our sticker on the No Littering sign. Our group chose this location because it’s right next to many tourist attractions, such as MOSI, Bush Gardens, and other theme parks… and of course USF. Ensuring a clean environment for tourists from all over the world raises the chance of them returning. Offering the best environment for potential students visiting USF by providing a clean, safe and trash free location, encourages more students to study at USF. We need our communities to look beautiful, with healthy growing palm trees, not cigarettes butts or wrappers wreaking the image. Don’t forget we, Floridians, too benefit from living in a community where littering is discouraged.
Littering poses multiple health dangers to the public, communities, and the environment. Harmful bacteria can accumulate in fast food wrappers or other trash items, cigarette butts have all sorts of chemicals in them, and can even cause fires. Broken glass can hurt a pedestrian, pop a car wheel, or endanger wildlife. Overall litter attracts parasites and bacteria, polluting our air, soil, city water, and oceans at risk.
It can also be hazardous on our roadways. For example, suppose you are driving down the high way you spot a glass bottle drifting towards you. You want to avoid hitting it, but with too many cars the road it’s impossible to redirect your car away from the glass bottle. There are two things which could occur here. The driver could either swerve to avoid it, that being their initial reaction or attempt to drive over it leaving the chance of causing an even bigger accident if it causes damage to their tire. If only the civilian, who decided to just leave their empty glass bottle on the street, would have properly disposed the can, this dangerous situation wouldn’t have occurred.
The no littering Florida Law pertains to public health because it falls into assurance as we learned in chapter one, one of the core functions of public health. Knowing that law enforcement, enforces the importance of keeping our roads trash free, and environmentally clean, shows there support in discouraging potential hazards to our ecosystem. It is important to keep our state and county as litter free as possible for healthy generations to come. The fine of about $100 dollars is quite small compared to the millions being spent on cleanup efforts due to littering. Our actions are reflected in our communities, if we like it or not. So please protect the environment and the general public, were all its’ got. Also a community who reduces litters and prevents littering likely to be a healthy and happy one! We hope this emphasizes the threat and importance of keeping Florida litter free!!!

Nadia Onatsko, Bailey Thompson, and Algery Marrero

Friday, September 9, 2011

Planned or Unplanned: Sexual Health



Need to get HIV/ STI tested? How about you’re annual Women or Men’s Wellness Check-up? Or find out what your birth control options are? Planned Parenthood is where you can do all of this and much more for usually a lower cost than your family doctor/gynecologist. Here women and men can receive sex health information on all types of areas including contraceptives, relationships, pregnancy, and even their sexuality. Our group chose this location because one of the group members missed class because she had an appointment here after the blog post was assigned. Planned Parenthood was created for low-income individuals who did not have insurance and still needed the same procedures or information or just for ANYONE in general. For example, a 17-year old concerned that she has STI symptoms can go to Planned Parenthood can receive STI testing for free or pay a minimal amount for the medication. The 17- year old will be happy that he/she could receive medication without having to involve her insurance and do it all without his/her parents knowing, if that is what she/he choses to do. Here you can get pap smears, which are secondary preventions. You can receive condoms, IUDs, and DEPO shots, which are primary prevention, and you can get medicine to cure your STIs, which is tertiary prevention. The coolest part about this place is that they take male patients also. As a group, we figured it was just about women and their sexual health, but we were wrong. They do A-Z for men also. Planned Parenthood DOES NOT discriminate. HAHA!!!! Any who, Planned Parenthood is “PUBLIC HEALTH,” and you can tell just by the name of the location.


By:Nicole Dinescu, Zuleika Estien, Deviney Rodriguez


Lettuce Lake Park is Public Health

Victoria Wagner, Aryiel Peitzer, Paolo Garcia, Kelli Lewis, Melissa Khan

We chose Lettuce Lake Park because it is Public Health on a plethora of levels. It is used for physical activity- like running, walking, biking, canoeing, or playing outdoor sports and games! It's used for mental clarity, whether lounging in the Vitamin D packed sunlight, walking along the trails above the water, or sitting alone and reading a book. It's important not to overlook how accessible the park is for any human being. It's targeted towards anyone who'd like to spend some time in a healthy and natural environment.

Public Health advocates physical activity.
The trails promote aerobic exercise, which is extremely important to fend off disease and maintain a healthy lifestyle. Whats better is that the park is filled to the brim with vegetation. The plants throughout this park provide oxygen which helps create fresher air which is excellent for all the physical activities going on within the park. More oxygen facilitates more efficient exercise!

Public Health encourages mental health.
The park's existence encourages happiness and mental clarity. The park is a perfect spot to spend time with your family and friends. Even if you go alone, it's a nice place to simply relax. The exercise the park promotes helps produce lots of endorphins, which does wonder for a person's outlook on life. No matter what people chose to do at Lettuce Lake, the park will surely bring some joy into the lives of many. Happy people come together to create a better world!

Public Health is targeted towards everyone in the world.
We think Lettuce Lake is a prime example of public health because it does not discriminate. It doesn't matter what you believe in, what your sex, race, or age is, or even if you live in tampa or not, the Park is a welcoming place for you to go!

Preventing Unintentional Injuries One Fire Hydrant at a Time.


We chose Wal-Mart for our location because Wal-Mart is an extremely popular place. It is open 24 hours a day and they have customers of all shapes and sizes. We decided to place our public health sticker on a fire hydrant because it is a huge public issue especially at a major supermarket; the fire hydrants are there to prevent unintentional injuries. Fire hydrants are there to assist fire fighters if the fire is too big to control. In some cases, the water from the fire truck will run out and that is when they turn to the fire hydrant. We also noticed that there was construction going on outside the Wal-Mart and the fire hydrant is also important for them in case they were do make a mistake and start a fire. Fires happen all the time and usually by careless mistakes. It is important for the public to feel safe when they enter stores and it is important for the stores to be prepared in case of a fire. We noticed the location of the fire hydrant is right in front of the store which provides easy access to the water and visibility when the fire department shows up. The area around the fire hydrant is also clear. This includes no bushes or shrubs surrounding the fire hydrant and it is also illegal for anyone to park in front of one. We never realized how much work and consideration goes into preventing unintentional injuries or death; therefore, this assignment was a success!


Kristy Lovell

Kristin Bailey

Desiree Mones

Tiara Hepburn

Samantha Wilson



Thursday, September 8, 2011

Wii Love Public Health!

We went out into our local community super store and placed our sticker on a Wii Fitness Game and Console. We chose this because obesity is a growing public health issue in the general population. We think Wii Fit is a great preventative measure because exercise is not being implemented properly in the community and is now accessible in the comfort of your own home. This is an important issue because noninfectious diseases such as Coronary Heart Disesase, Diabetes Type II, and hypertension, which often correlate with obesity, are among the leading causes of death in the United States.

Wii fit offers their players a vast variety of virtual sports to play such as, tennis, golf, soccer, boxing, track and field, volleyball and even yoga. These activities are perfect for increasing your cardiac output, lowering your BMI and improving your overall health. The Wii fit extension also allows players to measure their BMI and fitness level, as well as plan out goals for the players to meet. Wii fit is also senior citizen friendly, allowing the elderly to increase their daily activity levels all while partaking in low-impact exercise which is good for their joints.

These games also target the younger generation, by using some popular icons such as Mario and the Smurfs. Unfortunately, the younger population is known to have low activity levels due to increased television viewing and virtual game playing. These games will reduce the problem and reduce the occurrence of childhood obesity.

In our photo, we included several of the sports and exercise games that are available for the Wii such as: Just Dance, Mario Sports, Fit N Six and the Smurf’s Dance party.


In this photo are: Stefanee Whitehead, Sara Steiner, Julie Hageman, Ali Greenburg and Sara Dominic.

Wash or Die....Sanitize Your Life


PLEASE DON”T KILL ME WITH YOUR DIRTY HANDS!!! Imagine how many things you have touched from the time you left your home to the time you eat lunch. Now imagine not washing your hands throughout the day, but touching your face, mouth, or open wounds. Gross huh? Located all over University Community Hospital and other medical centers are sanitization devices available at your disposal. As a group we knew we wanted to place our sticker somewhere in the hospital. Why not a cafeteria? Doctors, nurses, patients, visitors, and other employees all pass through the cafeteria. If no one kept their hands clean then the doctors, nurses, employees, or patients could spread bacteria to the visitors and vice versa. Located in several parts of the hospital's cafeteria are sanitization devices. Since several people are in the cafeteria devouring food, preparing food, and serving food cleanliness is a must. However, going to the sink several times to wash your hands is inconvenient but more effective. Most sanitizers kill 99.9% of bacteria, and seeing that sanitizing hands is a preventive measure it is considered a primary method of prevention in public health.

Washing your hands can save your life and someone else life too. Especially in the hospital setting where patients are prone to staph infections illnesses, easy access to hand sanitizer provided by the hospital or self could help to minimize the spreading of bacteria and infections. Washing hands has become a social norm in today's society. Today you can now purchase at low prices cute and stylish hand sanitizer to carry with you at all times. If washing your hands lead to dry skin, there is hand sanitizer with moisturizers. Who doesn't love that! In many community areas hand sanitizer has become just as important as soap and water.

Ericka Oliver

Anevia Johnson

Marissa Stewart

Diane Pierra-Louis

Key A'sha Martin

Picture taken by lovely cafeteria attendant