This is another installment in a series of posts over the next couple of weeks highlighting some of many events the USF College of Public Health is hosting for National Public Health Week. Some of the blogs will be written coverage, others video highlights. And be sure to check out the places within the story that provide audio and video clips.
April 9
Hillsborough County Motorcycle Unit Deputies Steve Gutierrez, David Thatcher, Dominick DeSiato and Timothy Berg gave away bike safety helmets, lights, vests, reflective wrist bands and whistles.
COPH dedicated the day to transportation safety. Tables were set up to help raise awareness that affect motorists, cyclists, passengers, and pedestrians.
“A lot of people don’t really think twice about safety,” said CPL. Deputy David Thatcher of the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.
Campus life often means local living and short-distance travel. This means more pedestrians and more cyclists. Wearing lights, vests and helmets help the growing number of cyclists, which has nearly doubled in recent years.
The campaign is broken down into four E’s. Education, Enforcement, Engineering and EMT.
Listen to CPL. Deputy David Thatcher talk about engineering changes made to keep pedestrians safer on Fletcher Ave.
“The turn out is absolutely amazing, a lot more than we would have thought,” said Deputy Dominck DeSiato. Within 30 minutes into the event, DeSiatos’s unit had to run back to their office and restock their supply. Over 100 bike helmets were distributed.
Cauchavius Watts, a COPH Health Policy and Management student, fitted bike safety helmets.
People were also able to experience the reality of driving while impaired under the influence of alcohol. Just outside the COPH building a mini driving course allowed cart drivers the opportunity to navigate through narrow-placed cones while wearing vision impairment goggles. The course is designed for the cart to go through without hitting any cones. Everyone who took on the challenge hit cones that represent potential crash victims.
“It’s a normal thing for these goggles,” said Deputy Jeff Ramer. “They are simulating twice the legal limit.”
Hillsborough County Sheriff Deputies Larry Morrell and Jeff Ramer set up a mini-driving course for use with impairment goggles to demonstrate the dangerous effects of driving while impaired.
Watch the video.
See more photos by Ellen Kent here.
April 8
2015 Florida Outstanding Woman in Public Health is awarded [Multimedia]
Recognizing excellence in public health was the highlight of today’s COPH Public Health Awards Ceremony as part of National Public Health Week. Nancy L. Tipps, from the Florida Department of Health-Bay County, was honored with the 2015 Florida Outstanding Woman in Public Health award.
In just six years of working in the public health field, Tipps has managed to impress, inspire and succeed in making her community a better place. Her current role evolved out of her nursing career, which spanned over 25 years. This transition from patient to community was prompted by her first attempt to retire.
“The nurse in me would look at people and say, you need help,” said Tipps.
Nancy L. Tipps’s managerial responsibilities range widely from programs in infectious diseases, school health, and clinical services to managing people, money, and nurturing partnerships. Photo by Eric Younghans.
Nancy L. Tipps.
Tipps joins a growing list of 27 impressive women who’ve been recognized by USF College of Public Health.
“We have honored woman who lead when leadership is needed,” said COPH dean Donna Peterson, ScD, as she presented the heart shaped award. “This is a woman who gets things done.”
Photo by Eric Younghans
Etienne Pracht, PhD Professor of the COPH, also received some praise with an Outstanding Professor Award.
Pracht gave some guidance during his acceptance remarks. “Try something new,” “reflect,” and “just be nice.”
In addition, many students also shared the spotlight during the event for scholarship excellence, research work, and practice.
See more photos by Ellen Kent here.
April 7
Great supporters of COPH visit for World Health Day
U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor and Sam Bell, COPH Founder came to help celebrate the 30th annivesary of USF COPH and National Public Health Week. Students greeted them with brief introductions about their research areas and progress.
COPH hosted an event for NPHW’s World Health Day with tables and lab tours. Student posters were set up across tables along side pamphlets about international health, and vector borne diseases.
COPH Students Kristina Harand and Jayme Coyle gave tours into their research lab areas for World Health Day.
See more photos by Ellen Kent here.
April 6
Raising the grade for NPHW
Over 100 students, faculty and staff came to the student poster contest.
See more photos by Ellen Kent here.
April 3
Donors make Give Life Day a success [Photos]
Give Life Day was one of COPH’s ongoing events to prelude next week’s National Public Health Week. Students and faculty have been working hard to promote community engagement by offering education about exercise, CPR techniques, and public spaces, to name a few. During Give Life Day, 26 donors joined the OneBlood Bloodmobile and the National Marrow Donor registry. Donate Life Florida added seven new names to their organ and tissue registry.
See more photos by Ellen Kent here.
OneBlood Bloodmobile receieved 26 blood donations on COPH’s Give Life Day at USF’s Tampa Campus. Photo by Ellen Kent.
April 2
A table hosted by COPH’s Give Life Day gave out information to potential bone marrow donors.
April 1
A march to the Bull Market for National Walking Day [Photos]
Students and staff from the USF College of Public Health walked across campus to the Student Marshall Center to promote walking as part of the National Walking Day campaign initiated by the American Heart Association.
April 1 was National Walking Day, a campaign to promote people walking a minimum of 30 minutes a day, five days a week, to help prevent cardiovascular disease.
Raven Burrell, MPH student of the College of Public Health, participates in public health activities to help educate the community to exercise daily.
Raven Burrell.
“So many conditions today are heart related”, said Deanne Ryder, a student earning her master’s in public health. “So many deaths can be prevented just by simply exercising and eating healthy.
Deanne Ryder, MHA and MPH student from the College of Public Health uses a river metaphor to describe the role of public health.
Deanna Ryder.
Students and staff walked across campus to the Student Marshall Center during the weekly Bull Market. They also hosted activities and distributed information including walking maps.
“A lot of people look at fitness as an all or nothing approach,” said Kristina Harand, a toxicology student who led today’s activity. Walking at least 10,000 steps a day can have many benefits that help maintain vitals, combat obesity and promote overall health.
Kristina Ryder, an MSPH student of the College of Public Health, leads the National Walking Day activities at the weekly Bull Market at the USF Tampa campus.
Kristina Harand.
This event is part of a larger nationwide campaign for National Public Health Week to increase awareness and engage communities with information on how people can lead their own healthier lifestyles.
See more photos by Ellen Kent here.
March 28
Keeping Hillsborough River State Park trash free with USF College of Public Health [multimedia]
Dr. Marie Bourgeois, an assistant research professor at USF with her her daughter Maya Bourgeois, Britni Tisinger, Joseph Erbrick, Stephen Burd, Levy Furere, Megan Walker, and Maria Lazalde, volunteered at the Trash Free Water Initiative at Hillsborough River State Park.
In anticipation of National Public Health Week, USF College of Public Health has scheduled an array of activities and events to create awareness. On Saturday, March 28, nearly 200 volunteers arrived at Hillsborough River State Park to clean the park. The event was part of a Trash Free Waters Initiative organized by Keep Tampa Bay Beautiful and sponsored by Zephyrhills Water.
Volunteers were asked to be scientists for the day and collect data on the categories of litter they picked up. The data will be complied with stats from the previous clean-ups and will then be submitted to groups such as the Environmental Protection Agency and the International Coastal Conservancy.
The Hillsborough River is one of the main water sources for Tampa residents.
“It’s very important to recognize that the litter items are not supposed to be there” said Tom Damico, the environmental coordinator for Keep Tampa Bay Beautiful.
Most of litter found is left behind from picnics and camping activities. Bottle caps, candy wrappers, and cigarette butts contain harmful chemicals and take up to two years to biodegrade.
“No one seems to think it’s garbage,” said Marie Bourgeois, PhD, an assistant research professor at USF who came with her daughter and offered an extra credit incentive to her students. “We live in this world and we’re going to leave this world to other people.”
Using interactive health activities to educate children during the Haitian Health Fair
USF Health Service Corps Health Fair had it’s second year event at the Bethanie Adventist Haitian Church on Saturday, March 28, where more than 45 adults received health screenings.
Dr. Korede Adegoke, a physician from Nigeria earning her doctoral degree in Epidemiology at USF COPH, provided personalized health education. Photo by Ellen Kent.
Curtis Devetter, who came back from conducting his doctoral research in Costa Rica, lead kids’ activities. Photo by Ellen Kent.
Here is the link to more photos: Haitian health fair 2015
March 27
An early start to National Public Health Week begins with thanking community partners [multimedia]
“Our strategic plan is your strategic plan,” said Dr. Donna Petersen, dean of the USF College of Public Health, as she expressed gratitude toward an audience of more than 150 familiar colleagues during today’s 30th Anniversary Community Partner Celebration. Dr. Petersen has been working on ways to help solve public health problems we face today, in days past and in years to come. Instead of publishing a report, which has finality, she invited her audience to visit the online forum to keep the conversation going.
Dr. Donna Petersen, dean of the USF College of Public Health addresses an audience of health professional who’ve collaborated with USF COPH as part of the 30th anniversary celebrations to honor community partnerships.
Dr. Donna Petersen.
Dr. Charles Mahan, dean emeritus of USF College of Public Health, recalled earlier times, when students and faculty didn’t go out to communities.
“Things have really changed,” he said, noting one of the first goals attained was offering the master’s of public health to those already working in the field via satellite, an early version of online courses.
Community partnerships ranging in fields of cancer, senior health, behavioral health, diabetes, and many more, have been a main gateway into gaining knowledge about community health, and have been instrumental in helping place students, as well as participate in research projects for field advancement.
During the event, Jan Chester, of Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida, and Ellen Daley, PhD, USF alumna and professor of public health, talked about HPV research they both conducted years ago. “It’s very important to understand why our community acts as it does,” Chester said.
Jan Chester
“Nothing happens in public health without our partners,” said Dee Jeffers, RN, MPH, who has been working in communities for many years. Through public health initiatives, the average lifespan of individuals has increase by 25 years. Among the main factors making this possible are partnerships working in 10 areas: immunizations, work-place safety, motor vehicle safety, control of infectious diseases, heart disease, safer and healthier food, healthier mothers and babies, family planning, fluoridation of drinking water, and tobacco as a health hazard. As this list was read out, members of the audience applauded or raised their hand to acknowledge the work their organization does in the area.
Manuel Fermin from Healthy Start Coalition of Miami-Dade joined in the USF College of Public Health partnership celebration. Mr Fermin describes an important initiative to change the standard pregnancy term from 36 weeks to a full 39 weeks when the most significant brain developments occur.
Manuel Fermin.
The celebration continued with a projected presentation acknowledging organizations who worked with USF COPH throughout the past three decades. COPH has established their ongoing relationships worldwide, from Florida, Nicaragua to Uganda and also Malaysia. Click here to see a commemoration to those partners.
Dean Donna Petersen with Dr. Marti Coulter, professor and chair of the COPH community engagement committee, with community partners from Champions for Children, Brian McEwen and Amy Haile. “Our community partners are the foundation of our research, teaching, and practice. Without their collaboration and help we would not be a College of Public Health” said Coulter. Photo by Ellen Kent.
Photos, audio and story by Sandra C. Roa, USF Health Office of Communications.
