National Public Health Week at OMNI

We're halfway through National Public Health Week which got us thinking about all of the amazing work being done to advance health, both at the OMNI Institute and by our partners and colleagues nationwide.

Public health is so much more than just reducing the impact of the flu on our communities each winter. The American Public Health Association has shared their list of public health priorities which encompasses everything from giving everyone a choice of safe, healthy food, to increasing economic mobility.

At OMNI, we see the intersection of public health issues across all three of our divisions, and wanted to pause to reflect on some of the incredible opportunities that we have to support public health efforts in Colorado and nationally.

Just this week at OMNI, working on public health means we are:  

• piloting a toolkit to support rural health equity;

• presenting results from a county-wide assessment of food access needs;

• developing evaluation plans for a state level initiative addressing opioid use prevention, treatment, and recovery;

• analyzing data from an annual point-in-time count of homeless individuals;

• preparing a presentation on standardizing outcomes measurement in the addiction treatment field;

• partnering with a Colorado county to develop a coordinated referral system to care for individuals with behavioral health disorders with a focus on diversion from jails;

• collecting data to evaluate a statewide public health campaign addressing the youth vaping epidemic in Colorado;

• planning a capacity-building training for community partners doing substance use prevention work in Boulder;

• evaluating the Colorado Black Health Collaborative’s efforts to tackle mentholated tobacco use in the black community;

• working on a data quality plan for AmeriCorps members serving four counties in southwest Colorado across housing, youth development, food security, and early childhood;

• collecting survey data from policy and direct service organizations to advance women's economic security;

• preparing analyses to examine how substance use relates to program completion rates and psychosocial outcomes for youth who participate in juvenile diversion; and

• growing public health leaders through leadership development training and coaching.

The field of public health is an exciting place to be these days! What projects are you working on to advance public health?