Staff Perspectives

As Health Policy and Planning’s newest Community Health Planner, I’ll be supporting Get Healthy SMC objectives to improve health outcomes for San Mateo County residents by tackling economic obstacles to health like poverty and financial insecurity.

Hello Colleagues and Friends – As 2017 is coming to a close, I wanted to take the time to reflect with you on our collective priorities under Get Healthy SMC. We are half way through the five year strategic plan and have learned a lot as a collaborative on how the four community-identified priorities come together to impact healthy, equitable communities. We have now built strong partnerships with the leaders working across the priority issues and sharpened our strategies to have impact. I have one or two highlights for each priority that I want to lift up and celebrate with you.

Hi, Get Healthy Partners:

Many of you have interacted with me as the Contract Coordinator of Health Policy and Planning. I coordinate the contract development and amendment process with departments, program managers, and other County departments. As we select the next cohort of 2018 GHSMC Community Implementation recipients, I wanted to take this opportunity to share the basics of the contract process to clarify some of the questions we often receive during the application and contracting process.

There are 5 phases in the contract process:

We are currently recruiting two intern positions to join us part-time from November 2017 through May 2018. The Healthy Economy Intern will help our staff with researching and developing strategies to maximize opportunity for those facing economic barriers in San Mateo County. The Healthy Neighborhoods Intern will be researching and developing strategies to increase active transportation options for all San Mateo County residents. Application packets are due 9/8!

Active transportation, or the use of any human powered mode of transportation such as walking or biking, is an important element in staying healthy. When people are physically inactive this can compound preventable health issues like obesity, diabetes, or heart disease, but not everyone has the same opportunities for staying active. These opportunities include infrastructure, such as sidewalks, cross walks, or bike lanes, or it can mean having a safe environment, public transportation within walking distance, or other resources nearby, such as grocery stores.

Research shows that academic achievement is closely related to health outcomes throughout the life course. Working with the goal of reducing health inequities and improving health outcomes, we support academic achievement through implementation of restorative practices in our schools and across San Mateo County school districts.

Hi Get Healthy Partners!

I’m excited to introduce myself and to have this venue to share my perspective on how health and economics overlap and what it takes to build a healthy economy in our county. I am the new Community Health Planner, and I am coordinating the Healthy Economy program. I look forward to working with all of you to build a more inclusive and sustainable economy that promotes the well-being of all San Mateo County residents and workers.

I lead our Epidemiology program at the San Mateo County Health System and assist with statistical analysis and provide data for policy and program planning. Our Epidemiologists at the Health System help to ensure our policy work is grounded in evidence. Through data reports and requests, we share health information with community members and other stakeholders on the health of San Mateo County.