Addressing Environmental Quality: A Healthy People 2020 Story from the Field

Posted on by ODPHP

Family reading together

Exposure to secondhand smoke causes significant health problems in the United States. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), secondhand smoke harms both children and adults — and the only way to completely protect people who don’t smoke is to eliminate smoking in all homes, work environments, and public places.
Read more

Watch Our Webinar to Learn More About Preventing Health Care-Associated Infections

Posted on by ODPHP

Health care-associated infections (HAIs) are infections people get while receiving care for another condition. HAIs are a significant cause of illness and death, affecting about 1 in 25 Americans who receive hospital care. To address the problem of HAIs, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released the National Action Plan to Prevent Health Care-Associated Infections: Road Map to Elimination (HAI Action Plan) in 2009.…

Read more

Committee Member Spotlight: Featuring Dr. Jakicic

Posted on by ODPHP
The Physical Activity Guidelines Advisory Committee is composed of 17 nationally recognized experts in the fields of physical activity and health. Today, we are highlighting Dr. John Jakicic, a professor in the Department of Health and Physical Activity and Director of the Physical Activity and Weight Management Research Center at the University of Pittsburgh. On the Committee, Dr. Jakicic is the chair of the Cardiometabolic Health and Weight Management Subcommittee and is a member of the Exposure, Promotion of Physical Activity, and Sedentary Behavior Subcommittees.
Read more

Trusted Content from healthfinder.gov Can Improve Patient Portals

Posted on by ODPHP
The ONC Patient Engagement (PE) Playbook was created by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) to help healthcare professionals use health information technology (health IT) to provide better care to patients. The PE Playbook focuses specifically on electronic health record (EHR) patient portals, which allow both patients and healthcare teams, concurrent with patients’ privacy preferences, to easily access patient health information — which may lead to increased benefits for healthcare, such as improved health outcomes and lower costs.
Read more