Results Statement: There will be an improved health status for residents of Carroll County in regard to physical activity, nutrition, tobacco-free living, and safety.
Wellness and illness / injury prevention are identified as signature areas for our work. We realize that within all of our Core Health Improvement Areas, prevention is where our greatest opportunity for impact exists.
It is no coincidence that the teams addressing Prevention & Wellness are some of the largest and the most active in our community. The Partnership plays an active role with each to achieve lifestyle improvements that lead to better health.
Partnership Staff Contact:
Dawn Eldridge
410-876-4984
DEldridge@dhmh.state.md.us
Click on the organizational chart items to view the details of each.
Prevention & Wellness Leadership Team
Since 2003, the Prevention & Wellness Leadership Team has sought to promote wellness, prevent disease, and increase quality and years of healthy life in Carroll County through education, and by encouraging measurable changes in behavior and lifestyle.
The terms ”prevention” and “wellness” are broad ones that encompass many health areas in addition to those addressed by the Prevention & Wellness Leadership Team. The other Core Improvement Areas of The Partnership also play contributing roles in determining the overall health and wellness of people living in Carroll County.
Through the Vital Signs process (data analysis and group discussion), the Team has identified these areas of focus for our improvement efforts:
Physical Activity • Nutrition • Wellness • Safety
Indicators related to the increasing rate of diabetes are also addressed by the Prevention & Wellness workgroup. Membership in the Team, which meets quarterly, is open to anyone interested in improving the health outcomes of Carroll County residents.
Physical Activity
This area involves increasing awareness of the benefits of leading an active lifestyle, and the promotion of physical activity resources.
Fitness Testing
Carroll County Public Schools (CCPS) are assessing fitness levels of students in grades 3 through 9 under a Physical Education program based on the national program Fitnessgram, designed by The Cooper Institute. Students are assessed on their aerobic capacity, muscle strength, endurance and flexibility. They are tested on four components: curl-ups, pacer (running), push-ups and sit-and- reach (flexibility). Scoring in these areas places students in the Healthy Fitness Zone or in Needs Improvement for each of the areas.
The summary data will help us to see trends in county fitness levels of youth and to indicate where Partnership programs such as L.E.A.N. Carroll and Healthy Carroll Families need to focus their efforts. It will also show where our county youth are doing well in reaching fitness goals and national standards.
Health Partners Registry
The Health Partners Registry is an ongoing project to encourage efforts to exercise by raising awareness of businesses and facilities that offer physical activity and fitness opportunities for the residents of Carroll County. Health Partners are organizations that collaborate with The Partnership to promote better health for area residents, and whose names and contact information are listed in the Health Partners Registry.
Check out the latest Health Partners Registry for an up-to-date listing of these partners. A jump rope icon is used to identify those facilities that offer youth programs. For guidelines on becoming a Health Partner, contact Kim Spangler at 410-876-4965.
L.E.A.N. Carroll Resource Guide
The Partnership has organized the L.E.A.N. Carroll campaign to address childhood obesity concerns in the Carroll community. This information is provided to help children and families reach and maintain healthy weights and increase their activity levels.
Whether your child is currently at a healthy weight, at risk of becoming overweight, or is overweight, you can take steps to get or keep things on the right track. Eating right and being physically active aren’t just a “diet” or “program,” they are keys to a healthy lifestyle.
An educational and motivational resource booklet for the L.E.A.N. Carroll campaign titled L.E.A.N. Carroll was created and distributed in July 2008 as an insert in the Eldersburg Eagle. Later, a 36-page resource booklet called Healthy Carroll was also produced, and is being distributed with the efforts of our Action Team members. These colorful publications are filled with health facts, activity opportunities, nutrition tips, and other healthy lifestyle information. They are provided in Adobe Acrobat format, and may be downloaded for free through the above links. We have made efforts to distribute the L.E.A.N. Carroll booklet, the Healthy Carroll book and the Healthy Dining Guide to all of our Health Partners and Carroll Hospital Center physicians through a fax-back system. The precepts of L.E.A.N. Carroll are:
Make family-centered changes. *Eat breakfast every day. *Have family meals together as often as you can. *Make healthy choices when eating out. *It is best not to use food to comfort, reward or punish your child.
Teach your children healthy habits. *Set an example by eating nutritious foods and being physically active. Involve your child in planning meals and snacks, grocery shopping, and cooking. *Make your child aware that peer and media pressure can influence food choices. *Use the Nutrition Facts on food labels to make good choices.
Support an active lifestyle. *Plan family activities that are fun and provide exercise for everyone. *Aim for 60 minutes of active play time for your child on most days of the week. *Limit “screen time” (television, computers, video games) to 2 hours or less a day for all family members.
Eat for better health. *Choose more fruits, vegetables and whole grains. *Encourage your child to drink water instead of sweetened beverages like sodas, and fruit and sports drinks. *Find substitutes to replace foods higher in fat and sugar.
Healthy Carroll Resources Guide
Healthy Carroll - Resources for people of all ages in the Carroll community is a 36-page resource guide that puts at your fingertips information to focus on healthy eating and active lifestyles for you and your family. L.E.A.N. Carroll (Lifestyle, Education, Activity and Nutrition) is our challenge to Carroll residents to make a commitment as a family to increase not just the length, but also the quality, of life. To get your free printed copy, call 410-876-4965 or email kspangler@dhmh.state.md.us.
Healthy Carroll is also available as a Adobe Acrobat (pdf) file. Click here to download.
Wellness
Wellness focuses on increasing healthful behaviors by motivating people to actively make good choices, and the empowerment of individual accountability.
Worksite Wellness Action Team
The Worksite Wellness Action Team was formed in 2008 with co-chairs from Carroll Hospital Center and Carroll Community College leading the group. The team meets to network, share ideas and listen to health professionals concerning the advancement of worksite wellness programs. Five areas of focus have been determined; Health Education, Supportive Environment, Integration of Wellness Programs, Linkage, and Screening Programs. To get an understanding of where our community stands in this regard a survey was sent to members of the Carroll county Chamber of Commerce and all employers in Carroll County with over 100 employees in April 2009.
The Action Team is reviewing the results of the survey and plans to help provide resources for companies or organizations that request information.
Healthy Hearts Case Managment Project
The Healthy Hearts Case Management Program is a grant funded by the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Office of Chronic Disease Prevention for fiscal years FY2010- FY2012. It is patterned after the WISEWOMAN program of the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC). WISEWOMAN is an evidence-based project to reduce cardiovascular disease in low-income women through screening and lifestyle interventions. According to the CDC, low-income and minority populations share a disproportionate share of death and disability from cardiovascular disease.
The Carroll County program is administered by the Carroll County Health Department. Women ages 25 to 64 who meet income eligibility will be screened through the Access Carroll Clinic and Health Department programs. Those with risk factors for heart disease may enroll in the program to learn how to make healthier choices relating to nutrition, physical activity, tobacco use and diabetes control. The Nursing and Health Education staff at the Health Department plan to present this program as a model for other counties to use in the future.
Nutrition
Nutrition is the way our bodies use food as fuel. A healthy diet has a positive effect on our bodies and on our health.
Healthy Carroll Families
Healthy Carroll Families is packet of resources (nutrition/fitness handouts and a healthful recipe) released three times a year to help organizations, families and people of all ages promote and achieve healthy lifestyles that lead to healthy weights.
These resources can be used together as a comprehensive packet, or each piece can be used by itself to promote a particular “health” behavior. Each set of resources is built around a seasonal theme.
Both color and black & white PDF files are provided.
Please download, print and distribute copies of the Healthy Carroll Families materials. Click here to open.
Nutrition Partners Registry
The Nutrition Partners Registry was developed in an effort to provide resources with contact information for Carroll residents seeking local nutritional services. Information sources are also listed. You can download the Nutrition Partners Registry to find local professionals who can help your family achieve a healthy, balanced diet.
Healthy Recipes Project
From January 2005 through December 2009, the Prevention & Wellness Leadership Team provided a monthly recipe column in the Eldersburg and Westminster Eagle newspapers. Besides featuring a healthy recipe with its nutritional breakdown, the column allowed our Leadership Team members a chance to promote an upcoming event or a new prevention and wellness tip.
Beginning in 2010, new recipes will be posted three times a year as part of the Healthy Carroll Families resource packet. Enjoy these easy, family-friendly ideas for healthy eating!
Click HERE to view and download Healthy Recipes from 2005-2009.
Healthy Dining Guide
The Healthy Dining Guide of Carroll County is a collaborative project of the Prevention & Wellness Leadership Team. In 2007, with sponsorship from the Tobacco Coalition of the Carroll County Cigarette Restitution Fund Program, the first Dining Guide recognized 15 Carroll County restaurants for being 100% smoke-free and for offering at least 80% of our required healthy food options. These restaurants were presented with an “Award of Excellence,” and each proudly displays a “Healthy Dining Establishment” decal. The second (2008) Dining Guide listed 26 restaurants with healthy food options, and marked the ones that identify the healthier options on their menu. Work has begun on a third Dining Guide edition, to be released in 2010.
The Healthy Dining Guide includes a complete list of “healthy” restaurants and the healthy menu criteria that must be met for inclusion in this guide.
Download a free copy of our Healthy Dining Guide HERE.
Safety
Accidents are preventable. Initiatives in this area work to prevent injuries and deaths due to accidents. Special emphasis is given to child safety and highway traffic safety.
Safe Kids Carroll County
Safe Kids Carroll County is a local chapter of Safe Kids Worldwide, which works to promote unintentional injury prevention in children. Unintentional injuries are the leading cause of death to children ages 0 to 14 years. Safe Kids Carroll County works to prevent such unintentional injuries through community education. The group meets several times a year at the Carroll County Health Department to plan and implement educational programs that address a variety of safety issues, including water safety, child passenger safety, pedestrian safety, falls, bike safety, poison prevention, sports safety, fire safety, home safety, playground safety and toy safety. Safe Kids Carroll County’s annual prevention awareness event is held on Locust Lane in Westminster, as part of the Westminster Flower and Jazz Festival, on the Saturday of Mother’s Day weekend.
Maryland's Child Passenger Safety Law states that children up to age eight must ride in an appropriate child restraint, according to manufacturer’s instructions, unless the child is over 4’9" or 65 pounds. Every child from 8 to 16 years old who is not secured in a child restraint must be secured in a vehicle seat belt, in any seating position.
Car seat checks are done weekly at the Carroll County Health Department by appointment only. Walk-ins are not accepted. Call for the next community event. The Health Department also houses the Kids in Safety Seats Car Seat Loaner Program. Car seats can be loaned to families in need for minimal costs. Call 410-876-4448 for details, costs and to make an appointment.
The Safe Kids Carroll County Coalition welcomes new members with an interest in keeping Carroll County kids safe. Please call 410-876-4448 for information.
Mid-Western Highway Traffic Safety Task Force
The Mid-Western Highway Traffic Safety Task Force is a regional community group that works to promote traffic safety in Carroll and Frederick Counties. The Task Force is funded by a grant from the Maryland Highway Safety Office at the Maryland State Highway Administration.
Motor vehicle crashes are a leading cause of death and injuries to adults and children in the United States. The Task Force works to prevent these deaths and injuries through community education programs in the following areas: impaired driving, occupant protection, child passenger safety, young drivers, older drivers, drowsy driving, aggressive driving, speeding, bike safety, pedestrian safety, motorcycle as well as a variety of other topics.
In addition to its traffic safety community education programs, the Task Force also promotes traffic safety through enforcement. The Coalition supplies grant funds to Carroll County Sheriff’s Office, Hampstead Police department, Manchester Police Department, Sykesville Police Department, Taneytown Police Department and Westminster Police Department plus four Frederick County law enforcement agencies. Overtime funding to these agencies allows for increased enforcement campaigns to combat impaired driving, aggressive driving, seat belt enforcement, motorcycle and pedestrian.
This Task Force is led by coordinator Suzy Solo. For more information, please call 410-876-4819.
Links
2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans
2009 Report on Obesity in the U.S.
Aim for a Healthy Weight (National Heart Lung and Blood Institute Obesity Education Initiative)
American Dietetic Association - EatRight.org
Department of Parks and Recreation
Carroll Prevention Plan (pdf)
Health Partners Registry (pdf)
Healthy Carroll resource booklet (pdf)
Healthy Dining Guide of Carroll County (pdf)
Healthy Eating and Active Lifestyle Coalition, Inc.
L.E.A.N. Carroll flyer (pdf)
L.E.A.N. Carroll resource guide
Maryland Nutrition and Physical Activity Plan Executive Summary
Maryland Obesity Increases - State #27 in US (pdf)
Nutrition Partners Registry (pdf)
We Can! Children’s Activity & Nutrition
Page updated: 02/10
