Making it Better Log

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Making it Better: Minnesota's Health Improvement Log

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Aug. 24, 2017

Workplace Wellness Resource Center Launched

CDC Workplace Wellness logo

CDC provides new resource site

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently launched its Workplace Health Resource Center (WHRC). It's is a one-stop shop that gives employers resources to create a healthy work environment by providing tools and step-by-step resources to tailor a health promotion program to  unique workplace needs.

Visit the CDC Workplace Wellness site for details.


Tobacco Cessation Case Studies

Clearway logo

Strategic examples cited

ClearWay Minnesota has posted three Community Engagement Grant Case Studies that feature how the organization connected low socioeconomic-status smokers in Minnesota to commercial tobacco cessation services. The case studies include: 

Culturally Competent Connections to Cessation Services

Media Approaches to Connect American Indians to Cessation Services

Connecting People with Mental Illnesses to Cessation Services

Visit the Clearway MN website to learn more about the case studies.  


SHIP Work Plans Due Next Week

Thursday deadline for Year 3 planning

As a reminder to grantees, below is the timeline for feedback and revisions on Year 3 work plans and budgets:

Aug. 31 -  Drafts of Year 3 work plans and budgets due to CS

Sept. 19 - Feedback sent to grantees

Oct. 4 - Revised Year 3 work plans and budgets due

Oct. 18 - More feedback sent to grantees

Oct. 31 - All work plans and budgets finalized


New Community Specialist Hired

SHIP welcomes familiar name in new role

OSHII is happy to announce that Alice Englin will start as our newest Community Specialist on Aug. 30. Many of you many know her already, as she is currently the SHIP Coordinator for Freeborn County.

Alice will telework from her home near Albert Lea and work with the SHIP grantees in the south central and south east area of the state.

Welcome, Alice, to your new role with SHIP!

Calendar of Events

Super Snack Challenge Sneak Peak 

Date: Wednesday, Aug. 30 
Time: 10 a.m.-11 a.m.

Please join us to learn more about Super Bowl LII and its legacy across Minnesota, while discovering how the Super Snack Challenge can enhance your organizations programming. You will have an opportunity to meet our partners from Newman's Own Foundation as well as create a healthy snack with Chef Lachelle Cunningham.

Event held at Crew 52 Volunteer Headquarters, 698 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis

RSVP at this Super Snack site.


Coffee Calls Resume Next Week

Date:  Wednesday, Sept. 6
Time: 9:30 a.m-10:30 a.m.

Remember to dial in for our first fall coffee call. We begin with: We’re Not Just Dating Anymore! Public Health and Planning: The Long-Term Relationship.  Discussion centers on supporting planners and communities during the implementation phases of planning. There will be a Comprehensive Plan Implementation Toolkit introduced and scheduled for completion later this fall. 

Call-in Details: Toll-free number 1-888-742-5095   Conference Code: 8856043562


Healthy Food Retail Webinar

Date: Thursday, Sept. 7
Time: 11:00 a.m.

All you need to know to join our Good Food Small Store Partnership will be outlined in this webinar. It will provide an overview of the Good Food Small Store Partnership, which is a healthy food retail focused evaluation where grantees work with small food stores to stock and sell fruits, vegetables and healthy beverages.

Visit this MDH training site for registration information.


Quitplan Teleconference in Spanish

Date: Tuesday, Sept. 12 
Time: 3 p.m.- 4 p.m. 

This informational session will provide an overview of what tobacco users experience when they call QUITPLAN Services. We will play a recording of a mock registration call and a coaching session, both in Spanish. After listening to the calls, we will have a question and answer session with Spanish-speaking staff from QUITPLAN Services.

Please RSVP by email to Pamela Jensen at pjensen@clearwaymn.org by Friday, Sept. 8.


Culture of Health Webinar

Date: Wednesday, Sept. 20
Time: 2 p.m.- 3 p.m.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has announced its call for applications for its Culture of Health Prize, intended for communities that have placed a priority on health and are creating powerful partnerships and deep commitments to provide everyone, especially those facing the greatest challenges, with the opportunity to live the healthiest life possible.

If your community is using innovative ways to catalyze and sustain positive change, take the time to learn more about what it takes to be an RWJF Culture of Health Prize winner. Register to join the informational webinar on Sept. 20.

The application deadline is Nov. 3.

Learn more at the RWJF website.


This Week's Gem

Washington County breastfeeding room

As National Breastfeeding Awareness month wraps up, Washington County can now boasts not one, but two certified Breastfeeding Friendly Workplaces. 

Stillwater Medical Group joins 35 other workplaces throughout the state that have received this designation. The HyVee store in Oakdale is the other recognized Breastfeeding Friendly Workplace in Washington County. 

The recognition, given by the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH), signals that the Stillwater Medical Group met a standard of excellence in the workplace, helping shape the local environment to better support and promote breastfeeding.

Living Healthy in Washington County provided technical assistance to Stillwater Medical Group as part of the Statewide Health Improvement Partnership (SHIP) in establishing policy, system, and environment changes that made breastfeeding easier for their nursing employees. SHIP and MDH promote breastfeeding support and breastfeeding friendly environments by working with 11 regional coalitions, including Washington County, and the Minnesota Breastfeeding Coalition.