Division of Health

The Division of Health is designed to promote community health.  Community health represents the intersection of public health, preventive medicine, school health, and self-care.  In its daily functions, the people and programs of the Division promote community health with a focus on a wide variety of issues: 

• active living and healthy eating 
• emergency preparedness 
• communicable disease control 
• HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted disease (STD) prevention 
• lifestyle and healthy behaviors
• maternal and child health 
• mental health promotion and stress reduction 
• nursing services 

Additional support comes through data collection and analysis and birth and death certificates. 

Community health promotion is any combination of health education and related organizational, economic, and environmental supports for healthy behavior of individuals, groups, or communities.  Building healthy communities through this comprehensive approach has become a foundation of public health practice. Policy, environmental changes, and organizational changes can help sustain pubic health improvements over time.  

The Division of Health uses the 10 Leading Health Indicators as a framework for planning.  They are:

• physical activity
• overweight and obesity
• tobacco use
• substance abuse
• responsible sexual behavior
• mental health
• injury and violence
• environmental quality
• immunization
• access to healthcare