National Public Health Week 2019 events share science, promote action

Organizers were inspired during 2019’s National Public Health Week, rolling out takes on this year's daily themes and going creative with events that stretched the boundaries of public health.

Yoga sessions in Chicago, mindfulness training in Rhode Island, shelter-dog walking in Santa Barbara and a vegan challenge in Florida were part of the celebration. There was also an introduction to composting food waste in New York, a cautionary tale about soaps and shampoos in Massachusetts and a paean to the healthful effects of water in Kentucky. An emphasis on science, action and public health connected the dots of the more than 600 events.

"The variety of events this year really showed how creative public health workers can be when it comes to their NPHW events,” Rosa Riley, APHA program manager, told The Nation’s Health.

Led by APHA, National Public Health Week was marked from April 1 to 7 with a theme of “Creating the Healthiest Nation: For science. For action. For health.” Each weekday also had a theme — healthy communities, violence prevention, rural health, technology and climate change. The weekend’s theme was global health.

The many NPHW events encouraged students, health care professionals, advocates and the general public to do their part in making the U.S. the healthiest nation by 2030. Over 300 events were posted on APHA's national events calendar. APHA’s celebration in Washington, D.C. included the annual NPHW Forum, NPHW Student Day and a Twitter chat with over 4,200 tweets that trended nationwide. And APHA's Billion Steps Challenge exceeded its goal.

Continue reading this story from the June 2019 issue of The Nation's Health.