Programs and Community Activities
Community Assessment
Every four years, the Health Department, Healthy Alamance, and other community agencies work together to complete a comprehensive community health assessment. This document provides information about the health of Alamance County and about our community’s capacity to improve the lives of our residents. Information about population, employment, education, teen pregnancy rate, death rate, injury rate, crime rate, disease rate, and many other important quality of life factors are included in this report.
Healthy Alamance is the local Healthy Carolinians partnership in Alamance County. In 1997, over 150 Alamance County citizens came together to talk about health issues specific to our area. These leaders knew that in order to progress toward improved physical fitness and well-being, individuals would have to take responsibility for their own health. This could happen only when communities were allowed to choose the issues that were important to them. It was from this process that Healthy Alamance was born. Healthy Alamance is a partnership between Alamance Regional Medical Center, the Alamance County Health Department, Alamance-Caswell Local Management Entity (LME), and the Alamance County Department of Social Services.
For more information about Healthy Alamance, click here.
Smoke-Free Restaurants in Alamance County
On January 2, 2010, by law, all restaurants and bars in North Carolina became smoke-free. Before this law was enacted, the Health Department, Healthy Alamance, and the Alamance-Caswell Local Management Entity worked on Alamance County's Smoke-Free Restaurant campaign since 2002. When the project began, 33% of restaurants in Alamance County were smoke-free. Up until January 2, 2010, that number had grown to over 56%.
To report a bar or restaurant not in compliance with the smoke-free restaurants and bars law, click here.
Public Health Preparedness Program
The Health Department works with our partners in Emergency Management to plan for and respond to public health emergencies resulting from natural or man-made disasters. The Health Department seeks to organize supplies and personnel to respond efficiently and effectively to public health challenges.
- Write and exercise emergency operations plans for the Strategic National Stockpile and Pandemic Flu Response.
- Educate community about emergency preparedness for families
- Outreach to people most vulnerable to disasters, such as people with disabilities, the elderly, and people of imited incomes
- Recruit and train a Medical Reserve Corps
For additional information on the Alamance County Health Department's Public Health Preparedness Program, click here.
Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies
In July 2005, the Health Department formed the Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition with membership from Alamance Regional Medical Center (ARMC), Alamance Partnership for Children, Kidspath, Family Center of Alamance, Department of Social Services and NC Healthy Start Foundation.
The goal of the coalition is to reduce the number of infant deaths in the county, especially among our African American community. The coalition is implementing a Shaken Baby Syndrome Prevention Campaign, Safe Surrender campaign, and working to track infant deaths to help identify social, economic or environmental causes that may contribute to infant mortality.
Teen Outreach Program (TOP)
Since 2003, the Health Department has reached over 400 boys and girls ages 11-17 through the Teen Outreach Program (TOP). Currently TOP is being implemented in several middle schools in the Alamance-Burlington School System.
TOP is a science-based curriculum aimed at fostering the positive development of adolescents. TOP seeks to promote health behavior among teens, helps them gain valuable life skills, and gives them a sense of purpose through meaningful opportunities to contribute to the community.
Child Care Health Consultant Program
These health professionals provide information, resources, and referrals to child care providers and families, and help create environments that best support the healthy growth and development of young children. We partner with child care providers to:
Assess the health and safety needs and practices in the child care facility.
Manage and prevent injuries and infectious diseases.
Connect families with community health resources.
Provide health education for staff members, families and children.
Child Asthma Program
The Alamance County Health Department’s Office of Health Education and Promotion works closely with Alamance Regional Medical Center’s Pediatric Asthma Center to educate asthmatic children (birth to age 17) and their families about ways to control and prevent asthma attacks. A team of nurses, respiratory therapists, case managers, and an environmental health specialist work together to assist families with asthmatic children. Services are free of charge. For more information, please call (336) 538-7036 for more information.
Nebulizers are also loaned for a short period of time through Medicap Pharmacy free of charge to children who do not have Medicaid or Health choice and need them on a short-term basis. For more information, please call (336) 584-8878.
Safe Kids
Safe Kids is a coalition made up of health professionals from ARMC, the Health Department, Burlington Police, Sheriff’s Department, American Red Cross, local Fire Departments, and other community agencies, working to:
Generate awareness of the consequences of accidental injuries and empower the community to prevent them.
Strengthen child safety laws and regulations.
Provide lifesaving devices such as child safety seats, helmets and smoke alarms to families who need them.
Promote leadership in child safety through effective and sustainable partnerships.
Diabetes Faith Initiative
Healthy Alamance received funding to conduct the Being Healthy Counts to H.I.M. (Health Improvement Ministry) Program. This program sponsored by Healthy Alamance, the Alamance County Health Department and Alamance Regional Medical Center provides three local African-American churches with tools to prevent diabetes within their congregation and among other interested participants.
To date, thirty Lay Health Advisors from the three churches have been trained to teach the Diabetes Prevention curriculum. Being Healthy Counts to H.I.M. is working to expand to other worship centers in Alamance County.