Health Center to Host Outdoor Open House March 31st

Livingston County Health Center would like to invite the public to attend an Outdoor Open House on Tuesday, March 31^st from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in their parking lot, located at 800 Adam Drive. 

The event marks the kickoff of Public Health Month in April.  Free hot dogs, drinks, cookies and popcorn will be served to those who attend.  In case of inclement weather, the event will be moved indoors.

Health Center Announces Spring Walking Challenge

Registration is underway for a Spring Walking Challenge to be held April 5^h through May 31st . The challenge is a continuation of Livingston County Health Center’s “Walk Chillicothe” Project.

Those interested can sign up now through Friday, April 3rd to participate in the challenge.  Late registrations will be accepted, but the Health Center would like to get as many on the books by starting day as possible. The requirements are simple: pledge to walk 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week for 8 weeks.  Record walking on an exercise log and turn it in after the 8 weeks to be eligible for the prize drawing.  Even if you fall short of your goal, every entry submitted will be put in the drawing.

The walking challenge is an attempt to get people motivated to start a walking habit that will be established after the eight week period.   Incentives will be offered along the way to encourage participants to continue walking for their health.

Local worksites are also being targeted in the challenge to encourage employers to promote a healthy lifestyle to their workers.

If you would like to sign up for the challenge, call 646-5506.

Food Expiration Dates-What Do They Mean?

Nutritious food is an important part of the health and wellness of an individual. The date on packages of food is a guideline to help consumers use food at its peak quality and before spoilage begins to occur. Also, proper storage conditions and times are essential in achieving healthy food that is safe to consume.

Types of Food Product Dating

“Open Dating” on a food product refers to an actual calendar date instead of a coded date. This type of date is found mainly on perishable foods such as meat, poultry, eggs and dairy products. It helps the store to know when to pull these foods off the shelf. It can also benefit consumers to help determine when a product is at its best quality. It is not a safety date.

With the exception of infant formula and some baby food, product dating is not required by federal regulations. There is also no uniform system used for food dating by manufacturers in the United States. Although dating of some foods is required by more than 20 states, some states do not require any date codes.

“Closed or coded dates” are packing numbers used by the manufacturer identify and locate product if there is a recall.

These types of datings are typically found on shelf-stable foods, such as canned and boxed foods.

Dating Terms

• “Sell-By-Date”: tells the store how long to display the product for sale. The consumer should buy the product before the date expires.

• “Best-If-Used-By (or Before) Date”: recommended for best flavor or quality. It is not a purchase or safety date.

• “Use-By-Date”: the last date recommended for the use of the product while at peak quality. The date has been determined by the manufacturer.

Except for “use-by-dates”, product dates don’t always refer to home storage or use after purchase. Even if the dates expire during home storage, perishable foods should be safe, wholesome and of good quality if handled properly and kept in the refrigerator or freezer.

Dating of Infant Formula and Baby Foods

Formula and baby food dating is for quality as well as nutrient retention. The “use-by-date” is selected by the manufacturer on the basis of product analysis throughout its shelf life. It is also based on the conditions of handling, storage, preparation and use printed on the label. Do not buy or use infant formula or baby food after its “use-by-date”.

Can Codes

Canned food must have a packing code to enable tracking of the product in interstate commerce. These codes, which appear as a series of letters and/or numbers, might refer to the date or time of manufacture. They aren’t meant for the consumer to interpret as “use-by” dates.  Cans may also display “open” or calendar dates. Usually these are “best-used-by” dates for peak quality.

The U.S. Food & Drug Administration says canned foods are safe indefinitely as long as they are not exposed to freezing temperatures or temperatures above 90 F.  However, discard cans that are dented, rusted, bulging, leaking or swollen.

In general, high acid canned foods, such as tomatoes, grapefruit and pineapple can be stored on the shelf 12-18 months. Low-acid canned foods such as meat, poultry, fish and most vegetables will keep for 2-5 years, if the can remains in good condition and has been stored in a cool, clean, dry place. Normally food from these cans is safe to eat unless there is bulging or leaking.

Dates on Egg Cartons

If the egg carton has an expiration date printed on it, such as “EXP April 1”, be sure that the date has not passed when the eggs are purchased. That is the last day the store may sell the eggs as fresh. On eggs which have federal grademark, such as Grade AA, the date cannot be more than 30 days from the date the eggs were packed in the carton. Eggs can be stored at home, refrigerated, for 3 to 5 weeks if purchase before the expiration date.

Storage Times

Since product dates aren’t a guide for safe use of a product, follow these tips to make sure that food is still top quality.

• Purchase the food before the expiration date.

• For perishable food, take it home immediately after purchase and refrigerate it properly.

• Once the product is frozen, it doesn’t matter if the date expires because foods kept frozen continuously are safe indefinitely.

• Follow handling recommendations on the product.

Source: USDA, Arizona Cooperative Extension

Health Center to Host Mandated Reporter Training

Livingston County Health Center would like to announce a Mandated Reporter Training being held at their offices on Tuesday, March 24^th at 10 a.m.

Cherisse Thibaut, Prevention and Community Outreach Manager for Missouri Kids First, will update mandated reporters on changes in the law and empower them with the skills to protect children and appropriately respond to child abuse and neglect.  

Missouri’s mandated reporter requirements changed when House Bill 505 passed during the Spring 2013 legislative session.   One of the main changes in the law is that reporting requirements are now individual and not institutional. Mandated Reporters can no longer “cause a report to be made,” by reporting suspect child abuse to a ”designated agent.”   Example: A teacher suspects a student is experiencing abuse. Teacher is mandated to call the Missouri Children’s Division Hotline and make a direct and immediate report. Teacher cannot convey concerns to school counselor or principal for them to make a report on their behalf.

By law, mandated reporters are physicians, nurses, social workers, day care staff, teachers, ministers and law enforcement officials.  Mandated reporters also include any other person with responsibility for the care of children, such as those who volunteer with programs that work directly with children, such as Y-Pals, church youth groups, afterschool programs, etc.

The approximately 2-hour training will cover: mandated reporters’ legal responsibilities; how to respond to suspicions, disclosure or discovery of abuse; how to effectively report and how to follow-up with the case multidisciplinary team. 

There is no charge for this training.  Those interested should call 646-5506 to register, as space is limited.

“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”

 “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”  Yes, it's a cliché, but it definitely makes sense for health care.   Who can argue with the fact that it’s easier to stop something from happening in the first place than to repair the damage after it has happened?

Yet, our health care system highly rewards the life-saving medical services that treat people once they’re already sick, and invests little in cost-effective public health programs.  Consequently, while state spending on health care services continues to grow, public health has endured significant budget cuts in recent years.

The basic premise of public health is ‘if we take care of ourselves today, we’ll save big by avoiding huge medical bills tomorrow.’   Investing in widespread prevention efforts prevents sickness in thousands of people, and save millions of dollars in future medical expenses.

An article published in the journal Health Affairs demonstrates that a greater investment in public health produces substantial health gains in communities. The thirteen year study examined spending changes in 3,000 local public health agencies across the nation, and their impact on community health in terms of preventable causes of death, such as infant mortality and deaths due to heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. The most striking results: for each 10% increase in public health spending, researchers observed statistically significant decreases for infant mortality (6.9% decrease), cardiovascular disease mortality (3.2%), diabetes mortality (1.4%) and cancer mortality (1.1%).  If your eyes start to blur at the site of statistics, this means public health prevention efforts are actually saving lives.

Chronic diseases account for 70 percent of all deaths in the United States and these diseases affect the daily lives of an estimated 25 million people, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  Many of these diseases are preventable since the underlying causes of most chronic diseases are lifestyle choices.  These lifestyle choices or risk factors include using tobacco, being overweight or obese and physical inactivity.

The majority of today’s health care dollars are primarily spent on secondary prevention such as controlling high blood pressure with medication rather than preventing the development of high blood pressure by controlling risk factors.  Preventative programs would educate the individual concerning lifestyle changes that could achieve the same positive results without medication.

In some instances, lifestyle changes can prevent the onset and progressions of diseases such as Type 2 Diabetes and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.  Once a disease has been diagnosed, the amount of money needed for treatment may be astronomical.

A survey report released by the Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, found that Americans overwhelmingly support increased funding for health prevention programs.   In particular, programs that will help reduce the underlying factors that lead to chronic illnesses received the most support.

Recent research shows that every $10 invested in prevention programs will result in a five-fold savings in health care costs.  The programs most often cited are those that would increase physical activity, improve nutrition and eliminate tobacco use as well as eliminate the exposure to second-hand smoke.

The Health Affairs article provides strong evidence that investing in our community health will yield huge payoffs in the future. Not only do public health initiatives benefit a greater number of people, they are also less costly than comparable health care services that target the same diseases.

In an economic downturn, policy-makers must confront difficult choices regarding program funding cuts. In Missouri, public health has consistently made it to the chopping block.  In fact, our state is the lowest ranked state in the nation as far as dollars spent on public health.    Locally, state public health funding has been reduced by 53% in the last ten years.   

“Hands-Only” CPR on February 26

In recognition of American Heart Month, Livingston County Health Center is offering “Hands-Only” CPR at their office on Thursday, February 26^th over the noon hour.   Those interested should call to reserve a spot, as there are only ten kits available per session. 

Hands-Only CPR is CPR without mouth-to-mouth breaths. It is recommended for use by people who see a teen or adult suddenly collapse in an “out-of-hospital” setting (such as at home, at work or in a park). It consists of two easy steps:

Call 9-1-1 (or send someone to do that).

Push hard and fast in the center of the chest.

Every five years, the American Heart Association publishes updated guidelines for CPR and Emergency cardiovascular care. These guidelines reflect a thorough review of current science by international experts. The 2010 guidelines reported that in studies of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, adults who received Hands-Only CPR from a bystander were more likely to survive than those who didn’t receive any type of CPR from a bystander. In other studies, survival rates of adults with cardiac arrest treated by people who weren’t healthcare professionals were similar with either Hands-Only CPR or conventional CPR.

When interviewed, bystanders said panic was the major obstacle to performing CPR. The simpler Hands-Only technique may help overcome panic and hesitation to act.

Learning basic CPR skills may help save the life of a loved one in case of heart attack.

Call 646-5506 to find out more, or reserve your spot.

All services of the health center are provided on a non-discriminatory basis.

Livingston County Health Center to Request Nine-Cent Levy on April 7th

Due to the steady increase in operating expenses and ongoing decreases in state funding, Livingston County Health Center will be asking county voters to pass a nine-cent tax levy increase on Tuesday, April 7^th. 

The citizens of Livingston County voted in a tax-supported county health center in August of 1976.  At that time, a 10 cent levy was approved by voters.  Since then, the local public health agency has only gone to the voters once, in 1987, to ask for a levy increase of 15 cents. 

The requested nine-cent increase would bring the health department’s operating levy to 34 cents on $100 assessed valuation.   

Health center officials believe a sustained investment in the local health department will ensure county residents can reap the benefits of public health services for many years to come.

All services of the health center are provided on a non-discriminatory basis