Author: Amy Dominello Braun
Aug. 3, 2017 — An op-ed from DHHS Secretary Mandy Cohen, MD, on how social determinants affect health and well-being was recently published in the News & Observer.
“Research shows a person’s overall health is also driven by other factors, such as whether people have a stable, safe home, enough nutritious food to eat and transportation to get to their job or doctor,” Secretary Cohen wrote. “If we focus only on providing access to medical services but overlook other needs that affect a person’s health, we leave money on the table.”
Other Department happenings you may have missed:
- An evaluation of NC Pre-K by the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute finds that the program “continues to yield a high return on investment for our state—improving children’s outcomes through third grade, which we know reduces later costs in grade retention and special education services,” Susan Perry-Manning, DHHS’ Deputy Secretary for Human Services, said in a news release on the report.
- DHHS held a blood drive in July on the Dorothea Dix campus in Raleigh. The drive resulted in the collection of 26 units of blood
- Did you catch the #2LoveNC social media campaign celebrating North Carolina’s Smoke-Free Restaurants and Bars Law? The campaign, developed by the Division of Public Health’s Tobacco Control and Prevention Branch and the DHHS Office of Communications, features free children’s menus that restaurants can download and print. In the seven years since the law’s implementation, smoke-free restaurants and bars have become part of North Carolina’s culture and another reason #2LoveNC.