2007 - Alabama Department of Public Health

ureau of health promotion and chronic disease
The division also serves on the Alabama Suicide
Task Force, a collaboration with several state agencies.
The task force published a state plan to address suicide
and seeks to obtain funding for prevention activities.
Additional efforts include the promotion of bicycle and
playground safety and the establishment of funding to
address youth violence.
In April 2007, the Alabama Department of Public
Health, the Alabama Department of Transportation, and
the Alabama State Department of Education launched a
new program titled Safe Routes to School. The purpose
of this program is to enable and encourage students in
grades K-8, to walk and bicycle to school, and to make
walking and bicycling to school safer and more appealing.
The projects will improve highway safety, reduce traffic
fuel consumption, and reduce air pollution in the vicinity
of schools. This effort, coupled with growing health and
obesity concerns, makes walking and biking to school a
low-cost, attractive alternative. Federal funds will make
it possible to create an environment where K-8 students
can travel to school safely.
The Safe Routes to School program is divided into two
funding categories- infrastructure and non-infrastructure.
The Alabama Department of Transportation is managing
all infrastructure projects directly. Non-infrastructure
activities, primarily training and awareness, will be
managed by the Department of Education and the
Alabama Department of Public Health.
Public Information division
The goal of the Public Information Division is to
improve public health by providing information through
the mass media and through departmental publications.
The division provides professional assistance on public
information strategies to ensure effectiveness in meeting
the department’s mission.
In 2007 the division prepared and distributed more
than 65 news releases; assisted with a wide variety of
news media campaigns; edited the monthly publication,
Alabama’s Health; composed and distributed radio
public service announcements; routed questions received
by the public through the department’s Web site;
moderated numerous educational programs by satellite;
distributed video monitoring reports; and coordinated
regular appearances on a television talk show. The
division also edited the department’s annual report
which details the past year’s activities and expenditures
and mailed letters announcing the availability of other
specialized public health reports.
The division distributed notices and releases to the
news media electronically and through facsimiles
according to the media outlet’s expressed preference for
receiving information. For the first time, selected news
releases were translated into Spanish. News releases
are published on the department’s Internet Web site and
are sent to all agency employees by e-mail upon release.
Alabama’s Health, the official agency publication, is
also made available on the department’s Web site and is
printed in-house.
In order to communicate agency objectives and plans
to the public and to special target audiences, division
staff also composed and edited a variety of publications
and worked on numerous projects and promotions.
These included meeting summaries, reports, fliers,
booklets, address/telephone rosters, news conferences,
proclamations, public service announcements, and fact
sheets. Staff collaborated with partners in other state
and federal agencies, community organizations, and
voluntary entities. Some campaigns in which the division
was involved included Scale Back Alabama, Go Red
for Women Day, National Public Health Week, and the
tenth anniversary celebration of the Children’s Health
Insurance Program.
Division staff participated as alternate public
information officers of the Incident Command System,
participated in radiological health exercises, emergency
preparedness tabletop exercises, and a pandemic
influenza medical surge plan exercise.
Risk Communication branch
The Risk Communication Branch works to ensure that
state and local entities are prepared to respond to the
challenges that occur during terrorist and crisis events
by providing communication materials and training
programs for the workforce and public.
24