By removing key barriers to health, Greater Cincinnati can be one of the healthiest regions in the country. We need to lower the number of people using tobacco. We need to turn the tide on our community's heroin epidemic. And get our kids the comprehensive, early healthcare they need to become healthy adults.
Thriving Communities, an initiative of Interact for Health, engages communities in health promotion at a grassroots level. Using coaching, workshops and grants, we help communities implement research-based strategies to improve the well-being of their members.
Interact for Health is invested in helping nonprofits become self-sufficient. We have developed a series of programs in cooperation with SC Ministry Foundation to help nonprofits build the skills and resources necessary to continue their work after grants end.
To help create connections throughout the philanthropic community, Interact for Health offers our beautiful, state-of-the art Conference Center as a site for non-profit groups and organizations to host meetings, retreats, workshops, and conferences. Over 30,000 people use the facility each year.
For 20 years Interact for Health has served as a catalyst to improve health by promoting health equity in our region through community engagement, grants, research, education and policy. Interact for Health is an independent nonprofit that serves 20 counties in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana.
May 21st, 2018
Jessica Hembree is a program and policy officer at the Health Care Foundation of Greater Kansas City. Hembree spoke with Interact for Health about the foundation's youth tobacco prevention efforts.
Interact for Health: Could you explain more about the Health Care Foundation of Greater Kansas City and its goals?
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Greater Cincinnati Health Watch is a free biweekly e-mail newsletter published by Interact for Health.
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The Kentucky Health Issues Poll (KHIP) found that 7 in 10 Kentucky adults believe that addiction is a disease (70%). Attitudes towards addiction as a disease were the same both among respondents who have a family member or friend who has experienced problems with substance abuse, and among those who did not indicate such firsthand experience with addiction.
The most recent Kentucky Health Issues Poll (KHIP) and Ohio Health Issues Poll (OHIP) has found that more than 2 in 10 Ohio adults (23%) report knowing someone who has trouble as a result of using heroin, while just under 2 in 10 Kentucky adults (16%) report knowing someone affected by heroin use.
A majority of Ohio adults (81%) agree that it is easy to buy healthy foods in their neighborhood. However, responses vary by income. Nearly 9 in 10 Ohio adults in households earning more than 200% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines (87%) agree. That compares with fewer than 8 in 10 adults in households earning 200% FPG or less.
Nearly 3 in 10 Ohio adults (28 percent) reported having ever used an e-cigarette, according to the most recent Ohio Health Issues Poll (OHIP), sponsored by Interact for Health. This is higher than in 2016 (19 percent) and about the same as in 2015 (24 percent).
The most recent Ohio Health Issues Poll (OHIP) found more than 4 in 10 (42%) of Ohio adults report keeping at least one firearm in or around their home. This number has increased from 2013, when 36% reported keeping a firearm.
A majority (56%) of Kentucky adults say childhood obesity is a serious problem in the state, according to the most recent Kentucky Health Issues Poll.
The most recent Kentucky Health Issues Poll (KHIP) found that more than 8 in 10 Kentucky adults (84%) strongly or somewhat favor schools taking a more active role in helping families get health care services for children. Healthy students are able to achieve more academic success than those facing challenges to their health.
The most recent Kentucky Health Issues Poll (KHIP) found that more Kentucky adults have a favorable opinion of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) (44%) than a negative opinion (33%). The percent of adults with a favorable opinion has been increasing since the poll first started tracking the ACA in 2010, when it became law. In 2010, 26% had a favorable opinion of the ACA.
Rate of employer-sponsored health insurance declines; more Northern Kentucky adults lack insurance than in rest of state. The most recent Kentucky Health Issues Poll (KHIP) found one in four (24%) of insured Kentucky adults ages 18 to 64 are concerned about losing health coverage within the next year.
The most recent Kentucky Health Issues Poll (KHIP) found that nearly 9 in 10 adults (87%) favor schools adopting tobacco-free campus policies in their communities. Support for tobacco-free school policies has been consistently strong -- favored by 85% of Kentucky adults in 2015 and 84% in 2013.
The most recent Kentucky Health Issues Poll (KHIP) found that nearly 6 in 10 Kentucky adults (58 percent) favor raising the minimum legal age to buy tobacco products from 18 to 21. This support has held steady since 2015, the first time KHIP asked this question. Interact for Health and the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky sponsored the poll.
The most recent Kentucky Health Issues Poll (KHIP) found that nearly 3 in 10 Kentucky adults reported ever using e-cigarettes. The rate is higher than national statistics, where just over 2 in 10 adults reported ever using e-cigarettes. The highest reported use was among young adults in Kentucky, where nearly half said they had ever used an e-cigarette.
The 2017 Kentucky Health Issues Poll (KHIP) found that 71 percent of Kentucky adults support a comprehensive statewide smoke-free law. This remains the highest level of support since the poll began tracking this topic.
Half of Ohio adults (50 percent) said they favor and about 4 in 10 Ohio adults (42 percent) said they oppose needle exchange programs, according to the most recent Ohio Health Issues Poll (OHIP).
Six in 10 Ohio adults (58 percent) favor raising the minimum age to buy tobacco from 18 to 21 according to the 2017 Ohio Health Issues Poll (OHIP). This is an increase from 2016. A majority of Democrats (67 percent) and Republicans (60 percent) favored increasing the purchase age to 21. OHIP also asked if Ohio adults support a tax increase of 65 cents per pack of cigarettes; half of Ohio adults (53 percent) were in support.
The 2017 Community Health Status Survey (CHSS), funded by Interact for Health, has found that 23 percent of adults in the Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky area are current smokers. Although the rate has been steadily declining, our region is still higher than the nation, where 18 percent of adults were smokers in 2015.
Greater Cincinnati Health Watch is a free biweekly e-mail newsletter published by Interact for Health. Each issue includes health news stories from Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, and the nation, with emphasis on topics related to Interact for Health's focus areas of substance use disorders, severe mental illness, school-aged children's healthcare, and community primary care.
Our state-of-the-art conference facility is available at low cost to nonprofits.
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Interact for Health makes resources available to grantees and other non-profits to help them build the skills necessary to sustain their programs.
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SVP brings together local philanthropists to fund and become involved with selected nonprofits to make a difference in the community.
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Interact for Health has always encouraged and supported data-driven decisions. It is in support of that goal that we started the Ohio Health Issues Poll in 2005.
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The Community Health Status Survey (CHSS) gives an in-depth look at the self-reported health of tri-state residents. The survey is a project of Interact for Health. It was most recently conducted in 2017 and was first conducted in 1996.
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Interact for Health has always encouraged and supported data-driven decisions. It is in support of that goal that we partnered with the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky to start the Kentucky Health Issues Poll in 2008.
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Our healthcare reform website provides information about the Affordable Care Act and how it affects consumers and small businesses.
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Growing Well is an independent nonprofit organization that improves the health of our communities by connecting students and their families to accessible, school-based health services.
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