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Welcome to the Health Promotion & Prevention Newsletter, released by Marion County's Health Promotion & Prevention Team! In this newsletter, our team shares information, tips, news, and community work being done to promote health and prevent disease in Marion County.
Table of Contents
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TRAININGS
- June 8: Using ACE Data to Impact Substance Misuse Prevention
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Local! June 15: Sepsis & Its Long Term Implications
- June 20: The Power of Data in Prevention
- June 20: Investigating Monitoring the Future, What is going on with the Data?
- June 23: Trauma-Informed Decision-Making for Mental Health Professionals
- June 27: Trauma-Informed Systems of Care: How to See Your Setting Through a Survivor's Eyes
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Local! In-Person! July 11, 18, 25 & August 1 (4-part series): Pain 101
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On-Demand! Various Resilience Building Skills for Educators and various audiences
Additional trainings and education opportunities not listed can be found at:
Know of another organization that provides great trainings and want to share with our network? Let us know at MCHDPrevention@co.marion.or.us.
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EVENTS
June 24: Race to Save the Harvest
The Race to Save the Harvest Fun Run is an event to raise funds for Salem Harvest, a local non-profit that gathers unused produce around Willamette Valley for hungry families. Our prevention team will be hosting a resource table with information and giveaways! Join us at the in-person 3k or 5k run to help save the harvest. Click here for more information!
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June 26: Gilbert House Summer Block Party
Join the Gilbert House Summer Block Party from 10am-2pm. Enjoy a full day of activities as you learn about summer opportunities for your kids, play fun games, and take part in interactive demonstrations. Marion County Prevention will have a resource table too. Click here for more information!
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July 6-9: Marion County Fair
It’s time to celebrate Marion County and the community! Made in Marion is all about celebration. We celebrate the hard work of our youth. We honor those that serve. We celebrate with live music, wild rides, fun contests, great food, friends and fun. Join our resource table for information and giveaways! Click here for more information!
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August 18-20: Woodburn Fiesta Mexicana
Fiesta Mexicana in Woodburn is back! Join the Soccer Tournament, Pickleball Tournament, carnival, parade, live performances, and more in appreciation of farm worker workers and to celebrate the end of the harvest season. Click here for more information and a schedule of events!
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AWARENESS
June is Pride Month
June is Pride Month, a celebration and observance of the LGBTQ+ peoples' history, culture, and contribution to the community. To celebrate Pride Month, Salem Capitol Pride will be hosting a pride march and Downtown Block Party on June 17, 2023. Click here for more information!
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June 19 is Juneteenth
June 19th became a celebration of freedom after the civil war and is often expressed as the true Independence Day, where all Americans were truly independent and free. In partnership with Oregon Black Pioneers and Just Walk Salem Keizer, the Willamette Heritage Center will host a community history walk through downtown Salem on the Juneteenth holiday from 10:00am-12:00pm. The event will follow in the footsteps of longtime Salem residents Albert and Mary Ann Bayless, and their family and friends. Click here for more information!
*** Please note Marion County HHS offices will be closed in observance of Juneteenth ***
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August is National Immunization Awareness Month
National Immunization Awareness Month (NIAM) is an annual observance that highlights the importance of vaccination in protecting public health. The National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID) has created a list of 5 easy ways to celebrate NIAM and help raise awareness about the importance of staying up to date on all recommended vaccines across the lifespan. Click here for more information!
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If you are hosting an event you would like Marion County Health Promotion & Prevention to attend, would like us to share a training, or would like us to share an awareness month, week, or day - email us at MCHDPrevention@co.marion.or.us
Macie Reynolds, Youth Development Prevention Specialist
Macie Reynolds recently joined the Prevention Team as the Youth Development Prevention Specialist in May. Her role will be focused on providing expert knowledge around youth activities and programs through support and implementation strategies county wide. Her goal is to engage and empower youth to develop their own positive leadership qualities. She received her Bachelors of Science in Public Health with a focus on health behavior and health promotion with a minor in education at Oregon State University. She previously worked with NEWESD 101 in Washington State working as a Coalition Coordinator primarily focused on substance misuse, use and abuse prevention. She focused heavily on outreach in a small rural setting she created longstanding partnerships with community and organizations members. She is excited to work with community partners and collaborate on youth development projects to build up positive youth engagement.
In her spare time, she enjoys working out and trying new types of workout classes. She has been a softball coach for the past 5 years and enjoys providing catching lessons on the side. If she isn’t on a softball field or at one, she is more likely at a football field. She grew up around sports and specifically football. Often in the fall season she is in Montana where her family is season ticket holders for the University of Montana and has been attending games since she was born.
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We are excited Macie Reynolds has joined our team! If you would like to connect with Macie, email her at MReynolds@co.marion.or.us
Community and Public Health Workers are essential to our community, but many people do not know what they do. Our Prevention Team asked various Community Health Workers to give our newsletter community insight into their jobs. Thank you Hannah, Maria, and Tracy for joining our Ask a Community Expert segment!
CHW Hannah Nelson with Santiam Hospital (in red) joins the MCHHS team to spread awareness of mental health promotion
Tell us about yourself!
Public Health Worker Tracy Mendoza: Hello, my name is Tracy Lopez-Mendoza, I am a Public Health Worker with Marion County Early Childhood Nursing (ECN) Team! My favorite hobby during my free time is baking.
Community Health Worker Maria Lemus: My name is Maria Lemus, I work for Mano a Mano Family Center. My favorite hobbies going to the gym and spending time with family.
Community Health Worker Hannah Nelson: Hello, my name is Hannah Nelson and I am the Community Health Worker for Aumsville Medical Clinic which is a part of the Santiam Hospital and Clinic system. I have been working as a Community Health Worker for 1.5 years. My favorite hobbies outside of work would be doing diamond paintings and playing animal crossing.
What is a Community and Public Health Worker?
Tracy: A Public Health Worker is an individual who provides support, guidance, and resources to the community.
Maria: As a community health worker I provide culturally appropriate guidance to resources to the families being served. I offered direct services to families, and accommodate each family according to their needs. My goal with every family is that they see me as a friend helping them. I advocate and assist families with resources needed. Some examples include making calls, completing applications, research and providing the contact information and addresses to resources needed. This helps keep families more financially and emotionally stable. The guidance and education of resources depends on the specific needs of the family. A common need in the community is guidance and education in health care so families receive the care they need.
Hannah: To me, a Community Health Worker (CHW) is a liaison between community members, community programs, assistance agencies and health care. CHWs work with Community Members to identify and address all of their Social Determinate of Health needs. CHWs go into the community and meet with the different local Community Partner agencies. They make connections and establish relationships with community partners which makes CHWs very knowledgeable about what programs are available, eligibility, how to properly apply for the programs, and establish a streamline referral process. In turn, CHWs efficiently help Community Members navigate these different social service programs and can make a referral directly to a staff member to ensure a successful referral is made. CHWs are navigators, advocates and the bridges to a healthier community by breaking down barriers and helping the community fulfill their SDoH needs.
What does a normal day look like for you?
Tracy (pictured right): A normal day for me in the ECN team is participating in team meetings, case conferences, having home visits with our families, dropping off items to our families, making phone calls to community partners/resources, and attending community meetings.
Maria: My day looks different every day. I tried to have a schedule but be open to the urgent needs of families. I keep my schedule flexible but try to organize meeting and paperwork time as well as open space in my calendar for urgent needs with the families.
Hannah: CHWs at Santiam Hospital and Clinics are a case-work type of CHWs. I work out of the Aumsville Medical Clinic where all patients are given an SDoH form which lays out all of the SDoH needs with examples and pictures. If a patient marks that they have a need, a referral gets placed for me and that patient gets added to my case list. At all times, I typically have between 30-40 patients on our case list. On a daily basis, my job consists of identifying which patients I need to work on and contact that day. I speak to the patient on the phone, make any necessary referrals for them. I also contact multiple agencies to ask questions I may have or follow up on patient referrals. I create and send resource lists to patients. I contact insurances to advocate for patients. Help patients more easily access their healthcare. Patients are able to schedule appointments to meet with me in clinic where I can help them fill out applications to community programs and then fax them directly to the proper contact at that agency. I help patients sign up for financial assistance, rental assistance, utility assistance, housing section 8, and even OHP. Overall my day consist of being on the phone quite a bit talking to patients, agencies and insurances. Lots of paperwork and faxing and meeting with patients.
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What challenges do community/public health workers face and how do you overcome them?
Tracy: A challenge Community/Public Health Workers face after the pandemic is not being able to connect families with resources to meet their needs due to program funding or long waitlists. It is overwhelming when situations like these occur, but I do my best to be positive and provide the best service to our families.
Maria (pictured left): The challenges faced in this work are lack of resources available for families and funding. Community health workers have multiple hats and are highly needed in communities but the funding to support the position is also limited. Our goal as a CHW is to help the families as much as we can with minimum to no resources.
Hannah: I think one of the main challenges Community Health Workers face is addressing an SDoH need where there is not many assistance programs or funding for. For example, one challenge for our Santiam Hospital and Clinic service area is Transportation. There are not many public transportation options and unless a patients has Medicaid, insurance typically does not cover medical transportation. This means patients have to pay a lot of money for medical transportation. How we try to overcome this is, get patients connected with Cherriots Bus for the 30x route, ask for community volunteer drivers, or reach out to medical transportation companies and see if we can work out a plan.
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If there was one takeaway you would like our community to know, what would it be?
Tracy: Our work is challenging but know that every Community/Public Health Worker gives it 100% when serving our community!
Maria: I would like the community to know that CHW are passionate about the job and we do it from our heart. All the appreciation that families being served give us is priceless and at the end of the day all the hard work is worth it.
Hannah: One take a way that I would want the community to know about CHWs is we are here to serve the community. CHWs are in various settings throughout the community and can help in many aspects, whether someone is needing one-time, quick assistance or more extensive case management; we are here for you and can help get you connected to the right agencies for stabilization.
Thank you Tracy, Maria, & Hannah for insight into your work! We are so thankful for your passion in support of our community and grateful for the work you do everyday!
Earlier this year, the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) and Governor Kotek announced an additional $50 million investment into public health modernization*. This funding will add onto the existing proposed $286 million budget for the 2023-2025 biennium. In previous years, legislative investments in Public Health Modernization helped prepare the public health system for health emergencies like the 2020 wildfire season and COVID-19 pandemic. Knowing that modernization funds helped our state respond in the past, makes it even more exciting to see our policy makers continue to recognize the value of investing in the Public Health System.
The additional monies will be distributed to local public health authorities (Like Marion County Public Health), tribes and OHA programs. These funds will contribute to long term health improvements and positive health outcomes for everyone in the community by:
- Making cross-sector partnerships a priority
- Hiring more people from the community into the public health workforce
- Creating consistent messaging to assist in public health emergencies
Stay tuned to find out what MCHHS plans on doing with modernization in the future!
If you’re interested in reading more, check out this link: OHA Letterhead 10/10 (oregon.gov)
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Community Based Organizations Receive Funding for Tobacco Prevention
In 2020, Oregon’s Measure 108 was passed, which increased taxes on cigarettes and cigars and established new taxes on e-cigarettes and nicotine vaping devices. This additional revenue is being used, in part, to fund county public health programs, including prevention and cessation programs addressing tobacco- and nicotine-related diseases. With our share of the funds, Marion County has partnered with local community partners to address commercial tobacco use in our community.
Eleven contracts have been awarded with Measure 108 funding to community partners within Marion County that focus on tobacco prevention. The grantees include Career Technical Education Center (CTEC), City of Woodburn, Interface Network, Language Link, Mano a Mano Family Center, Micronesian Islander Community of Oregon, Raices de Bienestar, and Santiam Hospitals and Clinics.
These community partners are undertaking a wide variety of tobacco prevention projects including an anti-vaping campaign through the eyes of teenagers, an adult- and youth-oriented tobacco prevention workshop series, a prevention outreach campaign in English and Spanish, a Russian language media campaign, implementing the evidence-based Strengthening Families Parenting Program, workshops on the importance of understanding lease agreements and smoking policies in housing, workshops on stress management techniques that are sustainable and easily implementable and culturally grounded as an alternative to tobacco use, and a series of monthly classes, in-person, with group discussion and engagement.
Additionally, three of our community partners, City of Woodburn, Mano a Mano Family Center, and Micronesian Islander Community, will be conducting community readiness assessments. Key team members will lead interviews with 8 key stake holders from various sectors in the community which include healthcare providers, community health workers, educators, business leaders, and agricultural workers to understand what tobacco use looks like in their community. They will be conducting the interviews in multiple languages and their findings will inform future tobacco prevention efforts.
Stay tuned for more updates on these exciting projects!
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Tobacco Prevention Mapping Project
Our Tobacco Prevention and Education Program (TPEP) has taken on an exciting new project, using maps to show what tobacco use looks like in our communities! Our hope is that translating the tobacco data we have from charts and spreadsheets into easily understood maps will empower community members and partners to use these maps as storytelling tools to make change.
One of the most exciting aspects of this project is that we have been able to partner with local students from Willamette University’s Public Health Ethics, Advocacy, and Leadership (PHEAL) program. During the Spring semester, Nathan García-Díaz, our first student intern conducted a research study to look at the relationship between tobacco retailer density (the number of stores that sell tobacco in a neighborhood) and adult cigarette use in communities around Marion County. Nathan’s research produced some interesting insights that will guide our implementation work with community partners, as well as some beautiful maps!
 This map shows the percentage of adult cigarette smokers by census tract in Marion County. Darker colors indicate a higher percentage of adult cigarette smokers
The next step of this project is to create an interactive web-based tool to display these maps. We are looking forward to continued partnership with public health students and community organizations to develop this project!
High School Mental Health Video Contest Winners
May was Mental Health Month. To help raise awareness, Marion County Health Promotion & Prevention and Polk County Family & Community Outreach hosted a high school video contest. We asked high school teenagers in Marion County to use their creativity and video production skills to create thought provoking videos that would relate to their peers and their community.
The videos were posted on Facebook for voting in a friendly online voting competition with a 👍❤️😯. These votes were combined with a panel of expert judges who rated videos based educational content, messaging, creativity, and video production 🏫✨📹
Three finalists have been chosen and we are excited to announce the winners!
1st Place!
The winner of the 2023 Mental Health Video Contest is "There is Always Help," submitted by Jeremy B, Alex G, Tyler K, and Zachary H from McNary High School. Their video follows a couple's strained relationship due to problem gambling, affecting decision making and mental health of the person with the problem. By seeking help from a mental health counselor, the couple creates a plan to improve their lives.
Congratulations on your selection as the winner! Hayden and Nate will receive a $500 prize for the great work on their submitted video, and their video production class will also receive a $500 prize for sponsoring them! Check out their video here.
2nd Place Runner-Up!
"Healthy Alternatives to Substance Abuse" was selected as the official Consolation Prize Winner, submitted by Mica T and Ash S from Central High School. Mica and Ash will receive a $250 prize for their great work, and their yearbook class will receive $250 for sponsoring them.
3rd Place Runner-Up!
"Stall Call" was selected as the second official Consolation Prize Winner, submitted by Brodi M, Alexander C, Moses V, and Diego P from McNary High School. Brodi, Alexander, Moses, and Diego will receive a $250 prize for their great work, and their digital media productions class will receive $250 for sponsoring them.
All videos will be uploaded to our YouTube page for viewing!
In a statewide middle school art contest to raise awareness of problem gambling hosted by the Oregon Health Authority, local winners were submitted for into the statewide competition for consideration. The results are in!
5 total Marion County winners were selected for the second year in a row!
In first place is Charlie Olsher from Salem!
Additional top finishers include Kaleb Eder, Kristina Chuprov, and Samual Sandoval from Mt. Angel, and Zoe Martin from Salem Academy!
Winning artists will receive a certificate and an Amazon Gift Card for their accomplishment. Congratulations to our winners, their artwork can be seen below. Our Health Promotion and Prevention Team is very proud! A special thank you to the over 100 participating artists, and teachers who help make this contest happen. We cannot do this without our wonderful teachers!
See all our winners on our website & request a calendar today!
Marion County's Prevention Team will be creating 2023-24 school year calendars of the artwork from the top-12 finishers in our local competition! If you would like to receive a FREE calendar for the 2023-24 school year starting in September, reach out to us at MCHDPrevention@co.marion.or.us!
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Most people understand the impact that food and nutrition have on the health of everyone in our population. You may already know that programs like WIC (women infants and children), SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), and food safety regulation all work together with food growers in our region to keep people fed and the food on our table safe. Aside from those familiar programs, there are many other less “known” community-based efforts working right here in Marion County to address some of the current strains on our food system and create new forward thinking solutions.
One local farm taking on some of these challenges is Chapul farms. Their innovative programs strive to strengthen the food system through insect agriculture and support for soil health by transforming waste into feed and fertilizer products with insect technology. Additional collaboration with Strategic Economic Development Corporation (SECOR), Salem’s Career Technical Education Center (CTEC), and Grand Ronde Tribes is exploring how this technology can be taught and scaled throughout the region to reduce waste, improve soil health, and create a circular economy where waste is a resource.
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Food waste and collaborative farming were once not part of the public health conversation. As more members of the community struggle to put food on the table, and as local emergencies such as wildfires impact food availability, thinking about health and food systems is occurring in a different way. These conversations are all about our food web, and our team is privileged to work alongside many community partners working to strengthen each strand in that web.
Marion County Health Promotion and Prevention is excited to be a part of this type of collaborative work. To improve the health of all people living in the county, strengthening these partnerships, and supporting those most vulnerable to the effects of hunger and poor nutrition in our community is critical to strengthening the health of Marion County and creating a healthier future for all residents.
Links:
https://invest.chapul.com/
https://rfsi-forum.com/breaking-chapul-farms-raises-2-5-million-partners-with-nexus-pmg-to-scale-insects-as-waste-and-climate-solution/
Adapted From Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Marijuana and Public Health, Health Effects and Driving
Driving under the influence (DUI) laws are not just for alcohol. Driving under the influence of drugs, including marijuana, is also dangerous and illegal. After alcohol, marijuana is the substance most often associated with impaired driving. Driving is a complex task that requires your full attention to stay safe and alert. Marijuana affects areas of the brain that control your body’s movements, balance, coordination, memory, and judgment. Marijuana use can impair important skills required for safe driving by:
- slowing your reaction time and ability to make decisions
- impairing coordination, and
- distorting perception
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Studies have shown an association between acute marijuana use and car crashes, but more research is needed. It is difficult to connect the presence of marijuana or concentration of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the compound responsible for marijuana’s psychoactive properties (the “high”), to impairment in driving performance for and individual person.
Other studies have shown that the use of multiple substances (such as marijuana and alcohol) at the same time can increase impairment.
It is important to make sure that youth and adults are aware of the risks of driving under the influence of marijuana. The 2020 Oregon Student Health Survey shows that 11 grade students in Marion County who have used marijuana in the past 30 days are more than 40 times more likely to drive after consuming than 11 grade students who report drinking alcohol within the past 30 days.
FOR REFERENCES AND TO LEARN MORE:
CDC Marijuana Use and Driving Factsheet
2020 Oregon Student Health Survey
CDC’s Marijuana and Public Health
 During hot and humid weather, your body's ability to cool itself is challenged. When your body heats too rapidly to cool itself properly, or when too much fluid or salt is lost through dehydration or sweating, you may experience a heat-related illness. Learn the symptoms of excessive heat exposure and the appropriate responses. Also, be sure to practice water safety around rivers, lakes, and streams as Oregon is considered a "cold-water" state.
On hot days this summer, stay cool, stay hydrated, stay informed! Here are resources to help beat the heat, stay safe, and make this summer enjoyable for you, your family, and friends!
Marion County Health Promotion & Prevention will be highlighting various programs and health topics to keep you connected to the most important Health Promotion Topics in next newsletter. This newsletter will be released in the first week of September 2023. If there is a subject you would like covered, please let us know through the email below.
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