New Moore Park Playground Fundraising!
The goal is to build the new Moore Park Playground by the spring of 2021. We are launching the fundraising campaign in March and reaching out to businesses and organizations to sponsor pieces of equipment or fence posts that will line the parameter of the playground.
Additionally, you can purchase a Healthy Klamath hat for $20 and all proceeds go toward the playground. See the attachment to learn more about the ways to donate and get involved.
Community Health Improvement Plan Update
Suicide Prevention
32 agencies have come together for the You Matter to Klamath Coalition, and they have accomplished 28 different activities in the first year. They have 30 trained QPR (Question, Persuade, Refer) individuals. There was a successful Youth Video contest for high school students that created powerful videos that will be released at a later date. The KU media class will be taking this project forward. 495 calls to the suicide prevention hotline in a 6-month period increased to 623 calls, and none that called in to reach out were lost. Postvention packets with resources for families after all untimely deaths are now present in all first responder vehicles.
Wayfinding/10 Minute Walk Project
The Healthy Klamath organization is working with the city of Klamath falls to increase access and utilization of the local parks. They are also partnering with all jurisdictions that own trails to come up with a unified wayfinding system that includes signage to help people “find their way” to the parks. “Safe Routes to Parks funding has been received recently and will include technical assistance to create safe routes to parks as well as the wayfinding and signage plan.
OHSU Focus Groups Completed
OHSU nursing students conducted focus groups to learn more about barriers to accessing wellness programs offering in the community. They looked at WIC, Freedom from Smoking, Birthing Center Classes, Wellness Center classes, Diabetes Classes, and the Walk with a Doc program. Unfortunately, there was not good participation and more outreach and engagement were need to increase participation in the classes.
Oral Health Update
- Nursing students trained 9 DHS family coaches to do assessments for clients in October; they will train 12 SUD program staff for dental assessments for those with substance abuse issues. They were also involved with developing materials for patient education, including dental care and pregnancy and dental care and diabetes. 70% of the local practitioners participated in answering questions about head and neck cancer screen, their opinion of it, and their opinion from a provider’s point of view about how the community could improve the screen and effectiveness.
- Letters have gone out to medicare recipients in support of recent policy change.
- There is a Free dental day in Merrill and Malin: Maline City Hall, and the Merrill Civic Center. This was sponsored by the Merrill Lions Club who will be present to offer vision screenings April 25th and 26th, 8 am to 4 pm.
- Healthy Klamath’s Free Dental Day is at Klamath Open Door Clinic Monday, February 24th, from 8 am to 5 pm. It is first-come, first-served, so early arrival is encouraged.
Infant Mortality group has renamed themselves, TOTS, which stands for Trends on Thriving
A group of 15 people is actively engaged in working to reduce tobacco and substance use among pregnant women. They are partnering with the Pregnancy Hope Center to host a cessation class for pregnant women. They are also partnering with the Moore institute on the Nutrition Oregon Campaign, which focuses on increasing nutrition for young women and pregnant mothers. Another project they are involved in is implementing DOS Program. Direct On Scene medical first responders look for signs of an infant in the home and then check where they sleep. EMS providers are trained to provide education to caregivers on safe sleeping practices. They are also partnered with the Senior Center to publish information about safe sleep practices, and what that looks like today, how it differs from when the sne3iors were parents.
Housing
- Klamath County has passed a forgiveness program that funds $5600 for permits.
- Several local investors have put money int a rural revitalization fund and are working to rebuild it. Additionally, they pitched the fund to the governor a few weeks ago.
- A grant has been applied for to build supportive housing for the Substance Use Disorder population which also helps with re-entry into society after corrections.
- Klamath Housing Authority is working on a “Bed Bug Eradication Program” and policy Development as well as working on increasing education opportunities by partnering with the “Ready to Rent” program.
Food Insecurity
The healthy Klamath Coalition has been working to increase access to local produce and other healthy foods. They are encouraging an increase of SNAP use on the Klamath Farmers Online Marketplace. In the past quarter, the use went from $0 to $93.
KFOM is now Trans=link approved. This means transportation will be provided to get produce. KFOM is also partnering with community health workers to increase access through a fresh and local program that provides vouchers to patients to get fresh produce from KFOM.
SCOEED completed a Food Hub Feasibility Study
Several “Food for Thought Events” will be scheduled to educate the community about the local food system.
Check out more great Health Content at on our Basinlife.com HEALTHCARE Page!