Kansas Public Health in Action

Image of a woman in a mask holding an infant swaddled in a blanket.

Racial Disparities in Infant Mortalities Persist Despite Record Low Rates in Kansas

Kansas Public Health in Action, News / By

By: Noah Taborda, Kansas Reflector “… while the number of infant deaths reported is the lowest on record for the state, disparities in infant mortality rates among vulnerable populations persist in 2019.” This article features information from the Kansas Infant Mortality & Stillbirth Report (2019) by KDHE Bureau of Epidemiology and Public Health Informatics. READ …

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Image of PA Erin Keely and Clinic Manager Lacey Mollel taking a selfie with a community member who served as Somali translator, during a COVID-19 education, screening and testing event that took place in 2020.

Grassroots Efforts in Southwest Kansas Educate Refugee Communities about COVID-19

Kansas Public Health in Action, News / By

By: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention “When COVID-19 hit Southwest Kansas in the spring of 2020, there was little information available about the disease in languages other than English. Many essential workers from refugee communities turned to their neighbors, Physician Assistant Erin Keeley and Doctor Rachael Svaty, with their questions. The providers had a …

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Three disposable face masks on a table

Lessons Learned from Lansing Assist With Corrections Response Statewide

Kansas Public Health in Action, News / By

Originally written by Lisa Horn, Public Health Nurse Specialist, KDHE Local Public Health for the August Edition of Public Health Connections. Correctional facility conditions have the potential for a “perfect storm” for COVID-19 – close living arrangements, staff and offenders moving in and out of the facility and limited resources. The COVID-19 outbreak at the …

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Local Health Departments in Kansas Struggled to Get the Tools for the Frontline Coronavirus Fight

Kansas Public Health in Action, News / By

The coronavirus pandemic shut down non-essential businesses in Kansas for more than a month. Photo courtesy of Brian Grimmett, Kansas News Service Originally written by Celia Llopis-Jepsen for the Kansas News Service TOPEKA, Kansas — County health departments in Kansas lacked the resources and manpower to swiftly ramp up “boots-on-the-ground” work when the coronavirus pandemic hit, new …

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New and Updated Strategies from What Works for Health

Kansas Public Health in Action, News / By

Adapted from County-by-County Blog by County Health Rankings & Roadmaps Our What Works for Health database has over 400 evidence-informed policies and programs to make a difference in your community. On June 5, our What Works for Health analysts updated the database and you can now find new studies, implementation examples, and resources for the eleven strategies below: Activity …

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Counties Navigate Next Steps in COVID-19 Response

Kansas Public Health in Action, News / By

Written by Lisa Horn, Public Health Nurse Specialist, Local Public Health for Public Health ConnectionsPhoto courtesy of Johnson County Department of Health and Environment. As Kansas re-emerges from statewide COVID-19 orders, a veto last week by Governor Laura Kelly has returned authority to counties to set health, business and mass gathering limits. Kelly’s Ad Astra: …

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Kansas Uses Syndromic Data to Improve Case Reporting for EVALI

Kansas Public Health in Action, News / By

Written by the CDC’s National Syndromic Surveillance Program (NSSP) Photo Courtesy of C-Span. Kansas Department of Health and Environment Secretary, Dr. Lee Norman, testifies to Congress about the need for a public health investigation of e-cigarette, or vaping, product use-associated lung injury. The outbreak of e-cigarette, or vaping, product use-associated lung injury (EVALI) in the …

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