Healthy Communities Intiative (HCI)

07/01/2016

Lighting fireworks this ? Visit 's Fireworks Safety Info Center. http://1.usa.gov/11J8r1d

This is an information center on fireworks safety. It includes sparkler and fireworks safety tips, videos and information.

06/16/2016

Simple Steps for Kids’ Smiles
http://www.cdc.gov/OralHealth/pdfs/BrushUpTips.pdf
Pasos Sencillos para Sonrisas Infantiles
http://www.cdc.gov/spanish/dental/PDF/tips.pdf

06/30/2014

HCI would like to thank all of its followers for their support. We however will be shutting down this page in the coming weeks. If you would like to continue to receive posts and have not liked our Elkhorn Logan Valley Public Health Department page we will be posting from there!

04/22/2014

Protect the environment and the health of your community. One way to do this is to properly dispose of unused medications

04/05/2014

“Help for Today. Hope For Tomorrow.” Participate in Alcohol-Free Weekend where all Americans are invited to engage in three alcohol-free days.
For more information on alcoholism go to http://ow.ly/v0Nwg

03/19/2014

Kick Butts Day is today!! The fight against to***co is about saving lives. It’s also about taking on the to***co industry, which targets kids and deceives people in order to sell its deadly and addictive products.
To***co use is the number one cause of preventable death in the United States and around the world. It causes terrible and deadly diseases, including many forms of cancer, heart disease and emphysema (a lung disease that makes it hard to breathe). In fact, the U.S. Surgeon General has found that to***co use damages nearly every organ in the human body.

03/05/2014

Medication Safety Week is March 2-8, 2014. This nationally recognized observance draws attention to the 6th leading cause of death—medication mismanagement. Are you taking your medications properly?

•All medication must be taken correctly in order to control your ailment. Medicines taken incorrectly can be harmful.
•Ask your doctor how long you will need to take medicine and what is the purpose of the medicine.
•Follow the guidelines below for taking medicines more safely.

For more information please see: http://ow.ly/tDAsQ

a woman's annual physical, what every woman needs to know

02/07/2014

The vast majority of unwanted medicines in Nebraska are improperly handled or stored in the home, posing risks of accidental poisoning, prescription drug abuse, and water contamination. YOU SHOULD NEVER FLUSH LEFTOVER MEDICINE DOWN THE TOILET. Options available include:

Permanent Collection Sites:
West Point Police Department (M-F 9:00 am – 5:00 pm) and the Norfolk Police Department (7 days per week, 24 hours per day) have permanent MedReturn Collection Boxes available
to accept unwanted or expired medicines. Restrictions may apply on the types of substances these sites can accept.

One-Day Events:
Pharmacies, government agencies, and other organizations, such as the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), sponsor periodic drug take-back events, typically in multiple counties around the state on scheduled dates. For more information on DEA take-back events in your area, visit www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/drug_disposal/takeback.

Healthy Communities Initiative (HCI) Coalition will be sponsoring a one-day medication take-back event in Burt, Cuming, Madison and Stanton Counties. Dates are not yet determined. Please check back at a later date for more information.

01/10/2014

People with severe mental illness such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder have a higher risk for substance use, especially cigarette smoking, and protective factors usually associated with lower rates of substance use do not exist in severe mental illness, according to a new study funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). The study was reported in Medical News Today.
Estimates based on past studies suggest that people diagnosed with mood or anxiety disorders are about twice as likely as the general population to also suffer from a substance use disorder. Statistics from the 2012 National Survey on Drug Use and Health indicate close to 8.4 million1 adults in the United States have both a mental and substance use disorder. However, only 7.9 percent of people receive treatment for both conditions, and 53.7 percent receive no treatment at all, the statistics indicate.
Studies exploring the link between substance use disorders and other mental illnesses have typically not included people with severe psychotic illnesses.
Previous research has shown that people with schizophrenia have a shorter life expectancy than the general population, and chronic cigarette smoking has been suggested as a major contributing factor to higher morbidity and mortality from malignancy as well as cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. These new findings indicate that the rates of substance use in people with severe psychosis may be underestimated, highlighting the need to improve the understanding of the association between substance use and psychotic disorders so that both conditions can be treated effectively.
For more information see: http://ow.ly/ssqWQ

People with severe mental illness such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder have a higher risk for substance use, especially cigarette smoking, and...

01/03/2014

Op**te overdose continues to be a major public health problem in the United States. It has contributed significantly to accidental deaths among those who use, misuse or abuse illicit and prescription opioid analgesics. In fact, overdose deaths involving prescription opioid analgesics have increased to almost 17,000 deaths a year. As a result, drug poisoning deaths in the U.S. almost doubled between 2001 and 2010. This increase coincided with a nearly fourfold increase in the use of prescribed opioids for the treatment of pain.
Opioids include illegal drugs such as he**in and prescription medications used to treat pain such as morphine, codeine, methadone, oxycodone (Oxycontin, Percodan, Percocet), hydrocodone (Vicodin), fentanyl, hydromorphone, and buprenorphine.

Opioids work by binding to specific receptors in the brain, spinal cord and gastrointestinal tract. In doing so, they minimize the body’s perception of pain. Stimulating the opioid receptors or “reward centers” in the brain also can trigger other systems of the body, such as those responsible for regulating mood, breathing and blood pressure. A variety of effects can occur after a person takes opioids, ranging from pleasure to nausea, vomiting, severe allergic reactions and overdose, in which breathing and heartbeat slow or even stop.

Opioid overdose can occur when a patient deliberately misuses a prescription opioid or an illicit drug such as he**in. It also can occur when a patient takes an opioid as directed, but the prescriber miscalculated the opioid dose or an error was made by the dispensing pharmacist or the patient misunderstood the directions for use.
Also at risk is the person who takes opioid medications prescribed for someone else, as is the individual who combines opioids ,prescribed or illicit, with alcohol, certain other medications, and even some over-the-counter products that depress breathing, heart rate, and other functions of the central nervous system.

12/23/2013

According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and the Nebraska Office of Highway Safety, alcoholic beverages are part of many holiday celebrations, but there are things about alcohol use and your health you might want to know:
• Consuming five or more alcoholic beverages in just one night can affect your brain and physical activities for up to three days.
• Your attention span is shorter for periods up to 48 hours after drinking.
• Binge drinking on a single occasion slows your body’s ability to ward off infections even up to 24 hours after getting drunk.
• Alcohol slows muscle growth.
• Coming from a family with a history of alcoholism increases your risk for becoming an alcoholic.
• Eighty percent of young people feel that parents should have a say in whether they drink alcohol.
• Parental disapproval is the number one reason why young people choose not to drink.
• In Nebraska, a person age 20 or younger who is convicted for minor in possession of alcohol will have their driver’s permit or license impounded by the court for 30 days.
• According to the most recent roadside survey information it was determined that after 9:00 pm one of every 12 drivers on the road was legally drunk.
• If you operate a vehicle on Nebraska roadways, you have already given your consent to submit to a blood, breath, or urine test when asked by a law enforcement officer. Refusal to comply can result in your license being revoked.
• Nebraska ranks 4th nationally among all states in DWI arrests per capita.
• In 2012, the average blood alcohol level for individuals arrested for drunk driving in Nebraska was .161. The legal limit is .08.
• At a .08 blood alcohol concentration level, a driver’s crash risk is 11 times higher than a non-drinking driver.
• The average financial cost of being convicted for driving while intoxicated is more than $5,000.
• In 2012, the conviction rate for those who were arrested for DWI in Nebraska was 90 percent.

11/22/2013

Tie One On For Safety is MADD’s largest community awareness campaign that advocates for people to drive safe, sober, and buckled up during the holiday season. Drivers display a MADD red ribbon in a visible location on their vehicles or tied to their car keys to show family, friends, and loved ones that they support safer roads free from drunk driving.