Jax Dunham

H&S 328
Section 2

1. What local and what state public health organization did you explore? Write out the title
and provide the weblink. As a citizen, what can you learn by looking at local and state
public health websites?

- Regional: Panhandle Health District

o I can discover more about the programs and services that the district offers to
its surrounding counties of Benewah, Shoshone, Bonner, Boundary, and
Kootenai (my county). This information goes more in depth about explaining
what certain programs are and how you can apply for them. The site also has
an entire section dedicated to Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). This
section talks about who is eligible, how to apply, benefits, and where to
contact for assistance.
- State: Idaho Department of Health and Welfare
o Through the state website, I can learn about programs and services for
children, families, food/cash/assistance, medical, and health. When looking at
these specific program categories, I can learn about programs that lie within
each category. When looking further into each service, I can find contact
information for each health district (region) within the state of Idaho as well
as articles with more information or frequently asked questions about the
topics.

2. Based on your review of state and local public health websites, how are the roles and
responsibilities the same and different between local and state public health?

- The state and local health district websites appear to be alike in a few ways. They are
similar in the way that they both lay out the programs and services they provide and
how to apply or contact those programs. They also both provide information about
locations of specific programs within their areas of reach in the way that Idaho
Department of Health and Welfare refers people to locations throughout the state and
Panhandle Health District refers people wo locations within their 5 counties.
However, they differ in the specificity of the information provided. The state public
health website gave some information about each program, but the regional health
district was a lot more specific with regards to the information that they provide for
each of the programs that they offer.

3. What public health related work on the state or local level intersects with the sort of work
you hope to do in the future? Discuss how/why.

- On both the local and state level, the public health related work that most intersects
with the work that I hope to do in the future is that of the Idaho Physical Activity &
Nutrition Program. This relates a lot to the community sector of dietetics due to the
fact that it addresses common health conditions associated with obesity such as
Coronary Heart Disease, Hypertension, and Type 2 Diabetes. To respond to this
 health issue, Idaho created a health program that emphasizes environmental
approaches that support and reinforce healthy behaviors, such as physical activity and
nutrition. I really enjoy employing educational techniques to spark change through
prevention in regards to health, meaning that this work would be very meaningful for
me to participate in.

4. Write down three questions you would like to ask a local public health official and why
these questions are important to you.

- Which of your educational programs have proven to be the most successful/effective?

Why do you believe this is the case?
o This question is important to me because I want to see and understand how
and why certain education-based programs work so that I could implement
certain techniques in my professional life.
- Which programs tend to be funded the most by the state and why?
o This is important because it will allow for me to better understand what the
state of Idaho deems are the most necessary programs to implement for public
health.
- What techniques do you implement to write successful grants for extra funding
toward your programs?
o This would help me grow a better understanding grant requesting process.
Funding in the public health sector can be essential, so learning to better
understand the grant process could be important in my future career.