July 10th marks Chronic Disease Day. It’s a national awareness campaign that shares peoples’ stories to advocate to lower the number of preventable illnesses, advance access to care for unpreventable conditions, and build healthier communities.
Source: CDC’s Tips from a Former Smoker (CDC: Tips from Former Smokers – Cessation Tips Ad – YouTube)
Some tips for preventing many chronic diseases include:
- Not smoking or vaping
- Eating healthy
- Getting physical activity
- Avoiding alcohol
- Visiting your doctor for regular screenings
- Getting adequate sleep
- Knowing your family history
Tools for Healthy Communities include:
- Access to safe, healthy foods
- Walkable and bike friendly infrastructure
- Efficient public transit
- Policies and bylaws for tobacco and alcohol reduction/restriction (i.e. purchase ages, smokefree policies, etc.)
- Shade structures in parks and playgrounds
Access to Care can be influenced by:
- The number of medical facilities
- The number of medical professionals
- Health insurance coverage of services
- Affordable health insurance
- Telehealth
- Internet Access (if needing telehealth)
Questions for you:
Send us your thoughts by replying to the post or emailing us at SmokefreeHousingAK@Lung.Org.
- How do you incorporate healthy choices into your day-to-day activities?
- What are some things in your community that make the healthy choice the easy choice?
- Is there anything missing from your community that could help make the healthy choice the easy choice? If so, what?
