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Worksite Webinar | Breastfeeding and Your Responsibilities Under the Law | July 21
Time:
Noon – 1 p.m.
Date: July 21
Presented by: The Public Health Law Center at Mitchell Hamline
School of Law
Federal and state laws require employers to provide nursing moms time and a
private space to express breast milk while at work. This webinar will address
how the laws apply to Minnesota businesses, including the accommodations
employers are required to make for nursing moms to ensure compliance.
Additionally, the webinar will address how local businesses are supporting
nursing moms and making the laws work at their worksites.
Register here.
Live Smoke Free and Hennepin County
Contribute to Smoke-Free Housing Policy Passage
Congratulations to Lang Nelson Management, a company known for being proactive
and striving to go above and beyond in all they do to create healthy homes for
residents, for passing a new smoke-free housing policy. The manager of
Creekside Gables, a 55-plus independent senior community in Brooklyn Park, said
that the transition is going well and that he was surprised at how easy it was
to incorporate the new policy at the residence he manages.
The policy at Creekside Gables is widely supported by residents. One resident
said, “I think it’s good the apartment complex is changing to a non-smoking
residence. I have asthma and bronchitis, and the secondhand smoke affects me. I
appreciate no smoke in the hallways, and you know it comes from all over when
others smoke in the building, the electric sockets, vents and other places.
It’s surprising how much smoke gets into another apartment.”
“Lang Nelson has decided to go smoke free in a number of its properties after several
years of deliberations and planning,” said Tamara Richards of Lang Nelson
management. “Our company is on pace to have all of our properties smoke free by
2017.” The company houses more than 3,500 residents in more than 2,000 units.
Kudos to Live Smoke Free and Hennepin County Public Health Department on their
contributions to these policies!
Do you have a resource or success story (“gem”) to share for a future issue? Submissions for each week’s Thursday publication are due by noon every Tuesday to Health.MakingitBetter@state.mn.us or community specialists for:
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 No resources to share this week.
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New Active Living infographics from Active Living Research are
now available in Spanish.
These graphics feature evidence on a range of topics, including Safe Routes to School, transportation systems, parks and recreation, and youth sedentary time. Both English and Spanish versions of these
infographic are available for free download.
 Apply to host a Walk! Bike!
Fun! curriculum training in your area to implement the curriculum change for
schools. Doing so will provide area teachers and community educators with the
skills to teach children safe pedestrian and bicycle skills! Complete and
submit this application: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/fallwbf_2016
Deadline, Aug. 5.
Contact Michelle (Breidenbach) Kiefer with questions michelle@bikemn.org.
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Time: 10 – 10:30 a.m.
Date: Aug. 3
Several years ago, leadership at DW Jones (one of the largest property
management companies in northern Minnesota) let us know that they would be
making their move to smoke-free housing on their own timeline. At that
time, they asked that we assign one organization/office to work with them on
Smoke Free Housing efforts when the time came. DW Jones identified the American
Lung Association (ALA) as a partner. Several DW Jones managers, with
support from ALA, are implementing a companywide smoke free policy they believe
will be successful.
Join this call to hear more and ask questions.
Please also feel free to reach out to Liz Johnson at ALA with
any questions regarding DW Jones properties in your area. Liz.Johnson@Lung.org 218-726-4758.
The phone number is as follows:
1-888-742-5095
Participant Code: 885 604 3562.
MDH and Counter Tools are having a
Minnesota tobacco point-of-sale photo contest!
Do you have a photo of tobacco
industry tactics at the point of sale? Are you planning to take photos while
conducting audits this summer? Send in the photos you capture of the retail
environment!
What kind of photos? Send us photos showcasing tobacco industry marketing
tactics and promotional strategies at the point of sale.
Who do I send them to? Jennifer@countertools.org
What is the deadline? Please send by Sept. 30 to
be considered for the 1st and 2nd place prizes.
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Overview of “Stop Sales to
Minors” Online Vendor Training
Time: 2:00 – 3:00 pm
Date: Sept. 21
Description: Association for Nonsmokers – MN
(ANSR) will provide an overview of the newly released “Stop Sales to Minors”
online tobacco vendor training. We will cover how the training works and how
grantees can promote it. We will talk about our plans for dissemination and
brainstorm dissemination strategies together.
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To register for this training session
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Go to https://health-state-mn-ustraining.webex.com/health-state-mn-ustraining/k2/j.php?MTID=t05408239585209b9305ce811da680e02
and register.
Once you are approved by the host, you will receive a confirmation email with
instructions for joining the session.
To view in other time zones or languages, please click the link
https://health-state-mn-ustraining.webex.com/health-state-mn-ustraining/k2/j.php?MTID=t047c5f05550970e2774ab16c6030f72b
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For assistance
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You can contact Lorraine Swenson at:
lorraine.swenson@state.mn.us
1-651-201-5438
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The Center for Prevention at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of
Minnesota delivers on Blue Cross' long-term commitment to improve the health of
all Minnesotans by tackling the leading root causes of preventable disease:
tobacco use, lack of physical activity and unhealthy eating. Funded through
proceeds from Blue Cross' historic lawsuit against the tobacco industry, they
collaborate with organizations statewide to increase health equity, transform
communities and create a healthier state.
The Center is pleased to announce a new funding opportunity for their Healthy
Eating Success Stories funding initiative. They are seeking to fund six to
eight organizations at $10,000 each, to showcase innovative, successful healthy
eating work.
Many successful and innovative projects and initiatives have
been implemented that address barriers to eating healthy throughout Minnesota.
However, due to various constraints such as organizational size or staff
capacity, there are often fewer resources available to promote such
successes.
This funding aims to highlight the outcomes and lessons of current or completed
healthy eating programs, and to promote them within communities that may be
inspired to duplicate the successes.
They seek to fund organizations that tell success stories about their healthy
eating project in unique and innovative ways that also align with the
foundational work laid out in the Minnesota Food Charter.The Success Stories
project will use persuasive, tailored communications and powerful personal
narratives to execute campaign(s) that will deliver positive community-based
healthy eating messages.
The application deadline is 1 p.m. Monday, Aug. 8 (Central
Time).
To apply for this funding opportunity and review the required
materials, visit the Available Funding page.
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We’re looking forward to the Annual Statewide Health
Improvement Program (SHIP) Meeting on July 26-27 at Eagan Community Center. Get
a map
to the location.
Here are some last-minute reminders:
- Send your photos for the Wall of Success and
your presentation files if you haven’t done so already.
- Bring your presentations on a flash drive as a
back-up.
- Wear comfortable shoes
- Bring a water bottle.
There’s road construction near the Eagan Community Center
and the City of Eagan has posted a detour. For more
information, go to http://www.cityofeagan.com/index.php/community-center.
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SHIP evaluation
study shows 46 percent drop in indoor secondhand smoke exposure after public
housing goes smoke free.
Smoke-free policies have the
potential to provide healthier environments at multifamily, public housing
while also motivating residents to smoke less or quit smoking, according to a
new study by the Minnesota Department of Health’s (MDH) Office of Statewide
Health Improvement Initiatives.
The eight public housing
properties in this study implemented smoke-free policy changes after working
with local public health agencies through the Statewide Health Improvement
Program.
After the smoke-free policies
were implemented, the study found a 46 percent drop in frequent indoor
secondhand smoke exposure among non-smokers. In addition, 77 percent of smokers
reported reducing the amount that they smoke and 5 percent reported that they
had quit. Smokers noted the policy change was as much of a factor in their
reduced smoking as wanting to improve their health.
For a second
component of this evaluation, MDH interviewed local public health staff and
housing property managers and owners who have implemented smoke-free policies.
Get more information about the study http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/oshii/ship/sf-housing-reports.html.
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As you know, completing a Health Equity Data Analysis is a
requirement of SHIP 4. Originally, this was due Oct. 31, 2016. Under the
updated timeline, all grantees must complete a health equity data analysis by Oct.
31, 2017, the end of year 2 of the SHIP 4 grant.
- The 10 grantees piloting the Data Guide will complete a
HEDA by November, 2016.
- Grantees who are not part of the pilot can either:
1. Begin the HEDA process now or soon, before the Guide is
refined and the rollout is more fully developed during the pilot period; or
2. Begin the HEDA process in November, 2016, once the Guide is refined and the
rollout is developed. There will not be a formal Community of Practice for the
launch of the refined Guide. But you will be able to seek guidance from the grantees
who piloted the process, from SHIP staff, and from the Minnesota Center for
Health Statistics.
If you decide to move forward now, you are not on your
own! Please reach out to Ann Kinney from the Minnesota Center for Health
Statistics and your Community Specialist. We want to emphasize that you can ask
for and receive the same level of support from MCHS and SHIP that has always
been available to you.
The Data Guide is available on the Minnesota Center for Health Statistics website, along with numerous resources. The final
product for the Health Equity Data Analysis is still being determined as part
of the pilot, but we will want to see some documentation of how you worked
through the five steps in the Guide.
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The National Congress of American Indians
Conference passes a resolution entitled "Supporting policies to reduce
commercial tobacco use, secondhand smoke exposure, and tobacco related-disease
among American Indians and Alaska Natives." The resolution found on the
NCAI webpage. This has potential to be extremely useful for other tribal
tobacco prevention advocates because many tribal governments rely heavily on
NCAI's recommendations. In the near future this link will also have the model
tribal smoke-free air policy that can be downloaded and modified by tribes.
Please forward this to any other tribal
public health partners. Let's hope this can be the beginning of many more
tribes with comprehensive smoke-free air policies!
Resolution | NCAI
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 No announcements this week.
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