Ramsey County Public Health Award Winners Announced
Three Awardees to be Recognized at April 4 County Board Meeting
Saint
Paul, MN., — Three groups working to address health issues in the community will
receive 2017 Ramsey County Public Health Awards at a meeting
of the Ramsey County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday, April 4, 2017. The
awardees will be honored for their exceptional contributions to improving the
health of individuals, families and communities in the county.
The 2017
Ramsey County Public Health Award winners are:
Minnesota Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome’s YouthACT Thundercats, a youth group working to improve outcomes for individuals with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders.
The Kitty Andersen Youth Science Center at the Science Museum of Minnesota, a program that engages youth in leadership opportunities to use Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) skills to address personal and community health issues.
Interfaith Action of Greater Saint Paul’s Department of Indian Work for their efforts to improve the health of the local American Indian Community through the East-Metro American Indian Diabetes Initiative.
Award
recipients were selected for their leadership, advocacy, collaboration and work
to improve community health in Ramsey County. Nominations for the awards, which
are sponsored by Saint
Paul – Ramsey County Public Health, were submitted by the public earlier
this year. This is the third year public health has recognized individuals and
groups for their work.
"Education,
prevention and community partnerships are foundational elements of good public
health practice,” said Ramsey County Board Chair Victoria Reinhardt. “Our 2017
public health award recipients all embrace these vital practices as they work
in different areas to improve the health of people and environments in Ramsey
County.”
The
award presentation coincides with National
Public Health Week, April 3 -9. “The role of local public health is not
only to provide services, but to lead, facilitate conversations, engage the
community and support the good work of others striving to enable all people to
attain and sustain good health,” said Anne M. Barry, Director of Saint Paul –
Ramsey County Public Health. “The Ramsey County Public Health Awards spotlight
the innovative efforts of individuals and groups working across different
sectors to meet basic needs for healthy growth and development in our
community.”
Nominations
for the 2018 Ramsey County Public Health Awards will be accepted starting in
January of next year. Find more information on the awards, including a list of
past honorees, at www.ramseycounty.us/publichealthawards
Additional Background on the 2017 Ramsey County
Public Health Award Winners
Minnesota
Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome’s YouthACT Thundercats is a youth group working
to improve health, education, employment, housing and criminal justice for
individuals with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD). YouthACT Thundercats
are between the ages of 15 and 25 and include individuals with an FASD and
their allies. They are committed to the prevention of FASD and participate in a
variety of panels and events to raise awareness of this disability and share
their personal stories about living with this condition.
YouthACT Thundercats are
committed to building self-advocacy skills as well as advocating for others
with an FASD. They have testified at legislative hearings, hosted community
meetings, and participated in panel discussions at numerous conferences and high
schools across the state. The group provides a youth voice that educates,
raises awareness and informs the field of FASD in Minnesota.
FASD is a range of effects
that can occur when a developing baby is prenatally exposed to alcohol. FASD
can include physical disabilities as well as difficulties with behavior and
learning. These conditions are life-long and irreversible. In Minnesota,
approximately 7,000 babies are born each year with prenatal alcohol exposure.
The
Kitty Andersen Youth Science Center (KAYSC) at the Science Museum of Minnesota is an after-school program that engages youth ages
11-25 who have been historically underrepresented in the fields of Science,
Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM). Youth in the program are taught
engineering and design skills in various STEM fields and encouraged to innovate
ideas and solutions to personal and community health issues.
KAYSC youth collaborate
with community groups to address health equity issues in a variety of ways. One
youth crew studying low-income families’ lack of access to fresh, healthy food,
engineered an aquaponics system to grow food indoors during Minnesota’s cold
winters. With further research, they found residents weren’t aware of places
nearby where they could buy fresh, healthy food, so they developed a food
access map app with information and recipes to promote healthy eating and
cooking.
Another KAYSC youth crew
worked with community partners to study barriers to transit use in the Frogtown
neighborhood. The youth canvassed thousands of homes and analyzed hundreds of
data points to determine the best ways to educate the community about transit
options. Their creative solutions included more visible bike racks, spoken word
poems, a community mural, and an “Open Mic on a Trike” bicycle they engineered
with a portable speaker for use at block parties.
Interfaith
Action of Greater Saint Paul’s Department of Indian Work has led efforts
in Ramsey County to improve the health of the local American Indian community
through the East-Metro American Indian Diabetes Initiative (EMAIDI). The initiative brings together multiple
partners to work collaboratively to address health disparities among American
Indians who are more than twice as likely to be diagnosed with — and more than
four times as likely to die from complications of — diabetes compared to
Caucasians.
Over the last year,
community partners working on EMAIDI have yielded multiple successes.
Participants in the Family Education Diabetes Series have shown positive
behavior changes with resulting improvements in weight, blood pressure and
blood sugar/glucose levels. A men’s center group has been the catalyst for
increased physical activity, healthy eating alongside with increased social
support and culturally valued activities. Native youth were engaged in a new
group that offers leadership development and creates a network to learn and
establish pathways towards healthy living.
A diabetes school
education curriculum was adapted to focus on Medicine Wheel philosophies of
“walking in balance” — mind, body, spirit and community. American Indian
students created personal digital stories about what contributes to healthy
living and participated in a day-long traditional lacrosse event and a 5K.
Contact: Chris Burns
Communications Manager, Ramsey County Health and Wellness, 651-266-2537.
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