Eat! Grow! Go!
“My favorite story time event was at the Chaska Library.
There was a range of infants to 65+ adults interacting with the stories and
songs," said a Public Health Program Specialist.
The Carver County Statewide Health Improvement Program (SHIP) teamed up with the Carver County Libraries to provide
access to healthy living resource materials for children, families, and childcare
providers.
Book kits are now available for checkout at each of the six
library sites. Each kit contains books, DVDs, recipe books, and CDs promoting
healthy eating, gardening, and physical activity. The kits can be checked out
for six weeks at a time.
In addition, the Library set up special story times to
promote the book kits and heathy foods. The event, Eat! Grow! Go!, featured stories, music and craft activities about
gardening and healthy eating. An estimated 278 children and 142 adults
participated in the story time events over the summer!
As a result of the special story times, the kits have been
checked out by several home childcare providers and home school families.
In partnership with SHIP, Victoria Elementary School worked with SouthWest Metro Intermediate District 288’s YouthBuild Program to build a raised bed garden, ensuring accessibility for all students.
YouthBuild is program for low-income youth to gain exposure to a broad range of construction related careers, such as urban planning and landscape architecture, while giving back to their community. Students learn valuable skills and use them to serve others. As YouthBuild student Misrram states, “I love this program and everything that it’s done for me. Without Youthbuild, I would not be caught up in school and have experience in the construction field.” YouthBuild students built a wheelchair accessible raised bed garden for Victoria Elementary School.
School gardens provide opportunities for students to be invested in where their food comes from and how it is produced, which in turn makes them more likely to consume fresh fruits and vegetables. Thanks to this partnership, Victoria Elementary School students will benefit by having have hands-on opportunities to learn about nutrition, the environment, agriculture, and farm to table processes.
Designed with sustainability in mind, these gardens will promote learning opportunities for years to come.
Carver County Public Health established
a new partnership with Ridgeview Chanhassen Clinic to increase and sustain
capacity to provide tobacco cessation for Ridgeview Chanhassen patients through
their Achieve program. Ridgeview Chanhassen Clinic started the Achieve program
in early spring of 2016. The program is a free service to all Ridgeview
Chanhassen patients that focuses on helping patients accomplish their
individual health goals. Achieve focuses on tobacco cessation, diabetes and
weight loss management, and the treatment of depression.
Through a partnership with Carver
County Public Health, Ridgeview Chanhassen Clinic used SHIP funds to send two Achieve
program staff to the Mayo Clinic Tobacco Treatment Specialist Certification
Program. These staff members were trained in counseling techniques to help
individuals quit tobacco.
In addition, Carver County Public
Health is providing Achieve program staff with technical assistance around
program development and data analysis. In the short time the Achieve program
has been providing tobacco cessation, 29 patients have been referred for
tobacco cessation. Of those individuals referred, 12 have elected to receive
cessation services and six of those 12 individuals have successfully quit
tobacco – a 50 percent quit rate – and far above the 20 percent national average quit rate.
"I am so grateful for the opportunity to attend the Mayo Clinic Tobacco
Treatment Specialist Certification course.
It has made such a difference in my approach when dealing with
individuals that are struggling with Nicotine/Tobacco Addiction. Nothing feels better than having a person
that has smoked for 45 years decide to quit and do it successfully with the
guidance and tools that I learned from this course. Thank you Carver County SHIP Program!"
~Laurie Bauer, RN Health Navigator, Chanhassen Ridgeview Clinic
Check
out the Chaska Downtown Farmers Market, a SHIP partner
Located at City Square Park: 300 Chestnut Street in Chaska
Open Wednesdays 3:00-6:00pm through September 14
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Back to School!
Did you know? Carver County SHIP currently partners with 24
different schools!
We are excited to continue our partnership with schools
throughout the county. There are many action plans for the 2016-2017 school
year, including school-based agriculture, school and district-wide wellness
councils, healthier lunchroom designs, active classrooms, and much more!
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To be added to the distribution list please email
cries@co.carver.mn.us
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