TGIF and Happy National Public Health Week Student Day (NPHW) 2011!

Today's guest blog is by Vanisa Verma, Student Co-Chair Elect to APHA's Community Health Planning & Policy Development Section, Spring 2011 APHA Intern and Graduate Student at Saint Louis University School of Public Health.

Here’s to another successful week of public health awareness and a nationwide effort to promote safer living throughout all of our communities. Today’s theme is safety ‘In Your Community’.

The community plays a critical role in advancing better injury prevention efforts and safety practices. Throughout the week, we’ve focused on how everyday Americans can start small and think big in preventing injuries and violence. Today we celebrate the collective power communities have in creating a higher standard of safety and healthy living as a nation.

Where we live, learn, work and play matters to our health. Communities that promote active living with safe, equitable access to sidewalks and bike paths, health care facilities, grocery stores, and parks and playgrounds make it easier for families and individuals to make healthy lifestyle choices. A community is only as strong as its members, which makes every person important in advancing prevention!

Start small by joining your neighborhood watch program, get involved with school leaders to include prevention programs or become a champion of injury prevention in your community!

Think big by working alongside or even leading the number of community-driven initiatives that keep our homes, workplaces, public areas and streets safe! These can include a community safety task force, violence intervention and prevention, suicide prevention program, and programs to help foster positive parent-child relationships.

It only takes a moment for an injury to happen, but it also only takes a moment to prevent them.