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| Advocates in keeping New Hampshire a healthy place to live, work, and play . . . |
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September
2019 e-Newsletter
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Inside NHPHA
A Monthly Column Written by NHPHA Leadership
NHPHA Board President Presents
Strategic Planning Results
written by Marcella Bobinsky, NHPHA President
When a Board president mentions the phrase "strategic planning retreat," the response is often the same: Heads drop, eyes roll, and arms fold across chests. Yet, Board members usually rally and step up to the opportunity to assess previous accomplishments and mishaps, review our current state of affairs, and look forward to a future that is fraught with uncertainty and overflowing with opportunity.
This June, New Hampshire Public Health Association (NHPHA) Board members committed to a day of planning. The process, led by past member, former President of NHPHA, and current APHA Executive Board Member Jeanie Holt, was upbeat and stimulating. We had the benefit of workplans that had been rigorously developed at our previous strategic planning sessions and maintained by Executive Director Joan Ascheim as well as recent interviews with key stakeholders. And we had the vision and knowledge of our broad base of current Board members.
In general, the Board members present and our stakeholders expressed the opinion that the past three years have been successful in many key growth areas, leading us to expand on current critical objectives. The draft strategic objectives that follow are being developed by the Board and will be ready for publication in January. If you have comments, please send them to
[email protected].
Read the draft strategic objectives here.
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NHPHA Seeks Mentors and Mentees for
Public Health
Mentor Program, Year 2
Above: Mentors and mentees from year 1 of NHPHA's Public Health Mentor Program.
Building on the success of the first year of the
NHPHA Public Health Mentoring Program, we are launching Year 2 with the recruitment of mentors and mentees. Our program evaluations showed that 100% of mentors and mentees would recommend the program to others and over 90% felt strongly that the program was valuable and worth their time. Video testimonials from one of our mentors,
Kathleen Bush, and one of our mentees,
Maria Walawender
(please ignore the ask for funds for NH Gives), speak for themselves on the value of the program.
To view the mentor program program guide, which lays out the details of the program and expectations for mentors and mentees, click here.
A brief description of expectations follows, but please see the guide for the complete expectations (page 2) before completing the application:
Mentor Qualifications and Expectations:
- At least 5 years' experience in the field of public health
- Education background in public health, health promotion, nursing, health administration, etc.
- Member of NHPHA (or join prior to the program)
Mentee Qualifications and Expectations:
- Must be pursuing a degree in the field of public health or have entered the field in the past 1-3 years
- Establish goals and expectations, through an Action Plan
Mentors and mentees must be able to attend the three sessions listed below and meet monthly for an hour with their mentee/mentor (more details are in the guide):
- Mentor Program Kick-Off: October 10, 2019: all morning
- Mentor Check-In: January 22, 2020: 2-5 p.m.;
Snow date: January 29, 2020: 2-5 p.m.
- Mentor Final Event: May 14, 2020: 2-5 p.m.
To fill out an application, email Program Assistant Jess Barnett at [email protected]. Mentee applications are due by September 23.
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Survey Says! Results of the
2018 NHPHA Member Survey
Thanks to those of you who took the time to complete our annual member survey for 2018! We take your feedback seriously and use it to improve our services to you. Member satisfaction remains high and seems to benefit members personal professional development. Suggested activities that could add value to being an NHPHA member included: events outside the workday, more webinars, more training and a more robust annual meeting.
You told us you value the opportunity to connect with your colleagues in-person and that our events are a good value for the price. Our advocacy work continues to be an important consideration for your decision to be a member. Over 40 percent of respondents themselves engaged in advocacy activities with the most common activity being contacting a legislator.
You have a great interest in learning more about key public health issues including social determinants of health, healthcare system reform, working with vulnerable populations, and more.
Click here for the full survey results. Also be on the outlook for next year's survey in the next month or so!
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NHPHA Member Spotlight:
Meet Lynne Clement
written by Lisa Vasquez, MS, CPS, NHPHA Communications Committee Co-Chair
 NHPHA has talented members who work and participate in various aspects of public health. This month, we want to highlight
Lynne Clement. Lynne is a new member to the Communications Committee and has already amazed us with her knowledge and expertise in marketing and media production. We met Lynne during NHPHA's Persuasive Communications Messaging Workshop in March 2019, where she expressed an interest in the communication committee. We are thrilled to have her.
Lynne is a communications specialist at the
State of New Hampshire, Division of Public Health Services. She has worked at the Division four years and develops and maintains communications plans for all public health programs within the Division. If you have seen or received communication materials from the Division of Public Health Services in the past four years, you have seen her work. Lynne has an MBA from Hofstra University in Hempstead, NY, and has over 20 years of marketing experience.
Read the rest of our member spotlight here.
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Weather, Climate, and Health
How are they linked? How do they impact the Granite State?
written by Matt Cahillane and Lynne Clement, NH Department of Health
and Human Services' Division of Public Health Services
How does climate change affect public health? We all know how weather affects our personal health: We feel too hot or too cold, slip on ice, crash our car in a storm, or rush inside to avoid rain and lightning. It is less clear how a warming world will affect the public health in our community, region, or world. Greenhouse gases trap heat in the atmosphere, warming the earth and setting off a cascade of health effects that are often difficult to predict. The most recent
National Climate Assessment chapter on the northeast region of the United States paints a picture of how our health is changing in a warming world. We hearty Northeasterners are experiencing longer pollen seasons that trigger allergies and asthma; extreme temperatures that lead to more heat stress; heavy rainfall that leads to floods and injury; and longer tick seasons that may lead to more vectorborne illness such as Lyme disease.
The mental health outcomes associated with extreme weather events, including anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), have been studied for large events like
Superstorm Sandy. In the Northeast, people are used to a climate with more temperate summers and may not be able to adapt well to the extreme temperatures. A
recent study of heat-related hospitalizations and deaths in New England suggests that even a rise in moderate heat (above 80 degrees) is associated with more hospitalizations, especially among those with chronic disease conditions.
Read more about climate change and its effects on public health here.
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We Are Public Health
written by Lisa Vasquez, MS, CPS, NHPHA Communications Committee Co-Chair
 We Are Public Health is a new section that requires input from you. If you are a NHPHA member and hold a similar mission, vision, and/or values, we ask you to share what is happening within your public health region that exemplifies public health. We want this new section to highlight the work being conducted every day by NHPHA members to inspire and improve the public's health. Please contact Lisa Vasquez at
[email protected]
if there is something you or your organization is doing to showcase public health in action at the community or state level.
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Community Health Outlooks: Exploring Health and Environment at Town Level
Courtesy of Lynne Clement, Environmental Public Health Tracking (EPHT),
NH Division of Public Health Services
The NH Environmental Public Health Tracking (EPHT) Program is pleased to introduce the 2019 Community Health Outlooks. These individual community snapshots summarize 35 health-related indicators for 199 communities across New Hampshire. The chosen indicators represent community characteristics (health insurance, unemployment, poverty), risk factors (pre-1950 housing, low birth weight), health behaviors (unhealthy eating and heavy alcohol use), and health outcomes (asthma, cancer, childhood blood poisoning), thus reflecting a suite of conditions that impact health. Data are summarized to highlight geographic, demographic, and time trends.
The community-level geography used in the reports is a single town where possible. However, there are some towns in NH where the population is too small to support reliable health outcome estimates at the town level. For towns where the population is fewer than 4,000 people, towns are grouped together into a community based on similar demographic and socioeconomic factors. Communities are further grouped into regions with a minimum population of 20,000 people. Regions are used to present indicators that occur less frequently. Each report contains the health data tables for each indicator at the community/region, count, and state level with confidence intervals.
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Transitions & Happenings
 The Board and staff of NHPHA extend a huge congratulation t
o
Paul Janampa, Community Outreach Coordinator at Catholic Charities New Hampshire,
for his selection as one of
Nashua's 40 Under 40
at a celebration at Rivier College in July. This award recognizes the brightest and best in the greater Nashua area. Paul is serving on NHPHA's board through the Equity Leaders Fellow program. He has been a tremendous asset to the board. Clearly, Paul has a bright future ahead. Congratulations, Paul! Click here for more info on the award.
 Ch-ch-ch-ch-chaaanges ... at CHI!
Katie Robert, former NHPHA Board President, has been named the Community Health Institute/JSI's new Regional Director for Northern New England. JSI Northern New England is made up of 42 staff based at CHI in Bow, and 5 staff in Burlington, VT.
 After 19 years as Regional Director, NHPHA Board Member
Jonathan Stewart is transitioning to a company-wide position with JSI as the new Chief Knowledge Officer. Most of Jonathan's time will continue to focus on project work in NH and northern New England. Katie will onboard two new Associate Directors in the coming weeks. She looks forward to bringing a new vision, fresh ideas, and a collaborative leadership style to building upon and improving CHI/JSI's partnerships across the state.
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NHPHA Communications Committee
Still Needs You!
NHPHA is looking for members who are interested in marketing, communications, and health promotion to join the Communication Committee. Please note that you do not need experience to join. This is a great opportunity for any NHPHA member but especially
 for the student members who would like to be more involved in public health. The Communications Committee is responsible for keeping members informed in a timely manner of activities of NHPHA and supporting all of the communication activities between the Board, NHPHA membership and those interested in public health programs and initiatives. The Communications Committee utilizes various methods to keep NHPHA members current, including a member-to-member listserv, e-newsletter, Facebook, and website.
For more information about joining the Communications Committee, please contact the committee Co-Chairs: Lisa Vasquez (
[email protected]) or Christin D'Ovidio (
[email protected]).
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Membership Renewal Pins.
The committee has purchased NHPHA pins as a way to say thank you to our members when they renew. We hope you will wear your pins with pride at NHPHA and other public health events. Pins can be picked up at NHPHA events, or to coordinate a pickup, please email Marcella Bobinsky at [email protected].
Updating Contact Information. In order to communicate with our members in a more meaningful way, we will be actively collecting your personal email addresses. It has come to our attention that our communications are not always reaching you at your place of employment due to stringent firewalls. Please contact Jess Barnett at
[email protected] to provide or update your information. Then, kindly add " [email protected]" to your address book so that we may reach you with important updates.
New and Renewing Members
We'd like to welcome our new members:
Rachel Charette and
Erin Hart
A special shout-out to our renewing members:
Karla Armenti, Evan England, Granite United Way, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Foundation, Terry Johnson, Joyce Kelly, and
New Futures
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September 5, 12:30 to 3 p.m. - Childhood Lead Poisoning NH: What North Country Community Leaders Need to Know: Luncheon Education Session. This session will hold lunch at 12:30 p.m. in Littleton, NH, followed by the education session, which goes from 1 to 3 p.m. This event is
FREE, but registration is required.
Click here to learn more and to register.
September 7 - We can't wait to see you at the
sixth annual NH Get Your Rear in Gear Trail 5K (GYRIG) and Wayne Charette Memory Walk at Gould Hill Farm in Contoocook! Come enjoy a beautiful, rolling course that winds through apple orchards and a pumpkin patch - a classic fall NH experience! This is is truly a family-friendly event featuring something for everyone, including a Trail 5K (run or walk), 1.5-mile Memory Walk, and a Kids' Fun Run.
Click to register or start your team.
Organizers also need volunteers to help pull this off, namely route monitors, food table servers, and parking attendants. This is a great opportunity to support the event, fill some community service hours, and spend some quality time with friends and family for a great cause. Sign up
here. You can follow news updates about the race on
Facebook or
Instagram!
September 9, 9:30 to 11 a.m. - Relative Caregiver Recharge: Legal issues and questions facing grandparents and relative caregivers, with Breckie Hayes-Snow, executive director of the Legal Advice and Referral Center, hosted by the Greater Seacoast Community Health Family Center at Goodwin Community Health (311 Route 108 in Somersworth, NH). Are you a grandparent or a relative caring for children? If so, you are not alone. Over 10,000 children are living in grandparent and relative caregiver households in NH, and they can face a variety of challenges as they raise children the second time around. This monthly group (2nd Monday of each month, except July and August) will provide a friendly, informal opportunity for support, resources, and information for all relative caregivers and grandparents. Bring your successes, questions and ideas to share with the group! Child care is provided with advance sign-up, and transportation assistance is available. Meetings are free, and gas cards are available. Free child care is offered with advance sign-up. Led by
Patrice Baker and Georgie Clark. For more info, click
here.
September 18,
9 a.m.
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Persuasive Communications: Work in Progress.
This videoconference is a follow-up to the Persuasive Communications workshop that NHPHA hosted last March. You'll hear from colleagues who participated in the post-workshop coaching and have an opportunity to share how you have incorporated learnings from the workshop into your own communications. Workshop presenter Michele Levy will moderate the videoconference and be available to answer questions during the session. While it is most pertinent for those who participated in the workshop, all are welcome. Registration is FREE, but space is limited. Click here to register!
October 2 - The 2019 Team Up, Take Action (TUTA): A Conference on Partnering to Improve Community Health, is approaching! Now in its fourth year, the full-day TUTA conference, happening at the Hanover Inn in Hanover, NH, convenes public health and health care professionals, community activists, and health advocates to advance best practices and build collective capacity to improve community health through partnership. The 2019 conference theme is "Building Bridges between Communities and Clinical Environments." What makes for successful partnerships between clinical health care providers, public health systems, and community stakeholders? What are the essential strategic skills for leading partnerships? What are the tough challenges in integrating clinical and community systems that are focused on disease prevention and improve health outcomes for all? What can we learn from others who are building partnerships in different settings? What policy changes can help to facilitate strong partnerships in the future? What practices and approaches to organizational development and collaboration can best promote inclusion of all? Keynote speaker will be Jose T. Montero, MD, MHCDS, Director, Center for State, Tribal, Local, and Territorial Support at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. To register, click here. If you're interested in becoming a sponsor, click here.
October 22 - Save the date for the 2019 Healthy Homes conference!
Happening at the Grappone Center in Concord, this conference's featured presentation is
Tiny Houses: Big Impact. How Little Houses Can Solve Big Housing Problems. The speaker is
Faith Fowler, Case Community Services of Detroit, MI. For more information about the Healthy Homes conference, click here.
Watch a video to learn more about
the Tiny House Project in Detroit and featured speaker Faith Fowler.
Have an upcoming event that you'd like to have highlighted in our e-newsletter?
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Need to Renew Your NHPHA Membership?
To Renew by Mail:
Go to http://nhpha.org/membership. Choose the individual or organizational membership application to print and fill out. Send the application and check (payable to NHPHA) and mail to NHPHA, 4 Park Street, Suite 403, Concord, NH 03301.
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NHPHA would like to acknowledge and thank the following funders
for their continued generosity and support:
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For information on donating or becoming a member of NHPHA, click
here.
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Your feedback is very important to us. If you have comments, questions, or suggestions for the NHPHA e-Newsletter,
email us!
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2018 Affiliate of the Year of the American Public Health Association
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