1. Use the annotation structure to characterize two organizations related to your topic…
A) Albany County DOH
1. The Albany County DOH compiles various data reports on health issues in Albany county, as well as funding/organizing programs on getting/staying healthy.
2. One of the best examples of what the Albany County DOH has contributed to is the Community Health Needs Assessment for the Capital Region. This document, which assesses the health needs/risks for Albany, Schenectady, and Rensselaer counties, was one of the primary resources for my past research. The report discusses all forms of health issues and while it does discuss asthma and other respiratory issues, it does not focus on it exclusively. Other than that, there seem to be no asthma/respiratory programs run by the county DOH. They do run programs on quitting smoking and elderly care and several other things, however.
3. In 2013 the county DOH contributed to the Health Needs Assessment for the Capital Region.
4. Their approach seems pretty standard. Hosting/organizing programs to help prevent/treat problems in the county. However in the 2013 ACDOH commissioner’s report, I did find a joint program between Albany, Schenectady, and Troy to assist one another in the event of a man-made or natural disaster. I imagine this was put in place after hurricane Irene.
5. They seem to have kept good track of the number of events they have done, as well as the number of cases having to do with other env. health issues (like lyme disease, communicable diseases etc.). However, they have not done a good job of really estimating the type of impact it had on the community.
6. See above.
7. They host a lot of programs and tabling events at various community events. They seem to love fliers and pamphlets.
8. Being a government entity (a county one noless) I think they are hesitant to approach topics that do not have an absolute cause-effect relationship. For example, they hold several programs for Lyme disease (from ticks), smoking/lung cancer, and overall healthy eating. But, they don’t have any programs for asthma (that I can find yet).
9. Hurricane Irene in regards to preparedness for natural disasters. Various health surveys for smoking, lyme disease, STD’s etc.
10. Tax payer money.
11. Can’t really tell at this point. Based on the size of the department, they may be limited by the types/amounts of problems they can tackle.
12. Can’t tell without more information. Having a tough time finding just what exactly they have done/shaped about environmental health in the past.
13. Probably a more localized plan of action (like what they are doing now).
14. While we can definitely use whatever information they have available, I think the biggest thing would be suggesting/asking about programs for teaching people/kids about the dangers and costs of asthma. In the commissioners report, they discuss the number of times they went into schools to talk about stds, anti-smoking, healthy eating etc., but I think they are missing a big opportunity when it comes to asthma.
B) NYS Department of Health
1. The group being profiled is the New York State Department of Health, which is the highest health governing agency for NYS.
2. Every other year since 2005, the DOH has released a formal summary of asthma rates, asthma death rates, asthma costs etc. for all of NYS. This extensive report has grown from less than 100 pages in 2005 to close to 250 in 2013 (I expect a new report to be released this October). In addition to compiling data for the entire state, the DOH also funds various organizations that aim to prevent/treat asthma and educate people on environmental health issues. In regards to air pollution governance, they seem to focus more on indoor air quality than outdoor air quality (especially when it comes to smoking). From my perspective, it seems like they pass off outdoor air quality to the DEC and EPA.
3.
4. From what I can tell, the DOH acts in a very predictable way from inside the regulatory structure of NYS government. One big difference is the existence of the Regional Asthma Coalitions, which is something not typically found in most states. However, as I have state previously, the asthma coalitions could be doing a lot more.
5. The DOH is full of useful information regarding all types of health data, from number of uninsured citizens to asthma related ED visitation rates. They have a lot of it available on their website, which makes it very easy to access.
6. Under the diseases and conditions tab on the DOH website, they actually have a pretty large amount of resources devoted towards what asthma is, how it can be treated, and some work they have done related to asthma. However, I can’t find any information on how useful their events actually are.
7. Distribution of information through pamphlets, tabling etc. at various events across NYS. Their website is a great resource to people who have the fortitude to navigate it, as there are many pages and subpages.
8. They are one of the major departments when it comes to NYS bureaucracies and they interact as such. This means all of their research and prevention/treatment efforts are very methodical and designed to minimize risk and are very traditional.
9.
10. They are funded through tax dollars and pretty much the same as answer 8.
2) Find events worthy of adding to your timeline…
A) Construction of Empire State Plaza (1976)
The Empire State Plaza is located in the heart of downtown Albany and is home to several state government buildings. Construction was completed in 1976 at an estimated cost of $2 billion. In my interview with Scott Kellogg, we discussed briefly how the creation of the Empire State Plaza split Albany in two. To the south, you have Albany’s South End and to the north you have Arbor Hill. Both are relatively poor communities, with Arbor Hill being primarily residential and the South End containing the Port of Albany (many people live in the South End as well). These communities have little say in local governance, with the wealthier residents of neighborhoods like Pine Hills taking a hold of politics. It would be interesting to see if any correlation can be drawn between racial/socioeconomic/political changes in the area in the years before and after the construction. A city historian would be someone worth talking to about this. Even if a connection cannot be made, a city historian may still be able to talk about the impact the Empire State Plaza had on the city.
B) Critical Commentary of Air Monitoring Report in South End (9/30/2014)
In this report Dr. David Carpenter, the Director of the Institute for Health and the Environment at SUNY Albany, comments on how the DEC's response to their own findings was very wrong. In August of 2014, the DEC released a report that found elevated levels of Benzene in Albany's south end, most likely caused by the nearby crude oil facilities. The DEC said that these benzene levels were "safe". However, Dr. Carpenter pointed out that they were only safe in terms of "short-term" exposure, where the exposure limits are higher (400 ppb for benzene). The long-term limits are much lower at about 0.040 ppb. The area in question had an average of about 0.111 ppb during the month of June, clearly above the long-term exposure limits. This report proves that even when government entities decide to monitor a situation, their interpretation of the results can be inappropriate. If we ever interview the DEC, it may be worthwhile to ask why the DEC misinterpreted the findings so badly.
C) Asthma Jump Start Program (June 2006-December 2010)
The Asthma Jump Start Program was a result of the collaboration between the Regional Asthma Coalitions of NYS and the National Institute for Children’s Health Quality (NICHQ). The NYS DOH funded the program. From their website, they describe the program as, “A project to facilitate training programs that teach the Model for Improvement as a framework to improve systems of care for treating children with asthma.” The Model for Improvement is the plan of action located in the picture above. Unfortunately, I have not been able to find much else on this project elsewhere online. While it certainly fits in with the type of work we do, I was unable to find anything about it. An interview with the DOH or Asthma Coalition would hopefully provide more information.
A) Albany County DOH
- 1. The Albany County DOH compiles various data reports on health issues in Albany county, as well as funding/organizing programs on getting/staying healthy.
- 2. One of the best examples of what the Albany County DOH has contributed to is the Community Health Needs Assessment for the Capital Region. This document, which assesses the health needs/risks for Albany, Schenectady, and Rensselaer counties, was one of the primary resources for my past research. The report discusses all forms of health issues and while it does discuss asthma and other respiratory issues, it does not focus on it exclusively. Other than that, there seem to be no asthma/respiratory programs run by the county DOH. They do run programs on quitting smoking and elderly care and several other things, however.
- 3. In 2013 the county DOH contributed to the Health Needs Assessment for the Capital Region.
- 4. Their approach seems pretty standard. Hosting/organizing programs to help prevent/treat problems in the county. However in the 2013 ACDOH commissioner’s report, I did find a joint program between Albany, Schenectady, and Troy to assist one another in the event of a man-made or natural disaster. I imagine this was put in place after hurricane Irene.
- 5. They seem to have kept good track of the number of events they have done, as well as the number of cases having to do with other env. health issues (like lyme disease, communicable diseases etc.). However, they have not done a good job of really estimating the type of impact it had on the community.
- 6. See above.
- 7. They host a lot of programs and tabling events at various community events. They seem to love fliers and pamphlets.
- 8. Being a government entity (a county one noless) I think they are hesitant to approach topics that do not have an absolute cause-effect relationship. For example, they hold several programs for Lyme disease (from ticks), smoking/lung cancer, and overall healthy eating. But, they don’t have any programs for asthma (that I can find yet).
- 9. Hurricane Irene in regards to preparedness for natural disasters. Various health surveys for smoking, lyme disease, STD’s etc.
- 10. Tax payer money.
- 11. Can’t really tell at this point. Based on the size of the department, they may be limited by the types/amounts of problems they can tackle.
- 12. Can’t tell without more information. Having a tough time finding just what exactly they have done/shaped about environmental health in the past.
- 13. Probably a more localized plan of action (like what they are doing now).
- 14. While we can definitely use whatever information they have available, I think the biggest thing would be suggesting/asking about programs for teaching people/kids about the dangers and costs of asthma. In the commissioners report, they discuss the number of times they went into schools to talk about stds, anti-smoking, healthy eating etc., but I think they are missing a big opportunity when it comes to asthma.
B) NYS Department of Health2) Find events worthy of adding to your timeline…
A) Construction of Empire State Plaza (1976)
The Empire State Plaza is located in the heart of downtown Albany and is home to several state government buildings. Construction was completed in 1976 at an estimated cost of $2 billion. In my interview with Scott Kellogg, we discussed briefly how the creation of the Empire State Plaza split Albany in two. To the south, you have Albany’s South End and to the north you have Arbor Hill. Both are relatively poor communities, with Arbor Hill being primarily residential and the South End containing the Port of Albany (many people live in the South End as well). These communities have little say in local governance, with the wealthier residents of neighborhoods like Pine Hills taking a hold of politics. It would be interesting to see if any correlation can be drawn between racial/socioeconomic/political changes in the area in the years before and after the construction. A city historian would be someone worth talking to about this. Even if a connection cannot be made, a city historian may still be able to talk about the impact the Empire State Plaza had on the city.
B) Critical Commentary of Air Monitoring Report in South End (9/30/2014)
In this report Dr. David Carpenter, the Director of the Institute for Health and the Environment at SUNY Albany, comments on how the DEC's response to their own findings was very wrong. In August of 2014, the DEC released a report that found elevated levels of Benzene in Albany's south end, most likely caused by the nearby crude oil facilities. The DEC said that these benzene levels were "safe". However, Dr. Carpenter pointed out that they were only safe in terms of "short-term" exposure, where the exposure limits are higher (400 ppb for benzene). The long-term limits are much lower at about 0.040 ppb. The area in question had an average of about 0.111 ppb during the month of June, clearly above the long-term exposure limits. This report proves that even when government entities decide to monitor a situation, their interpretation of the results can be inappropriate. If we ever interview the DEC, it may be worthwhile to ask why the DEC misinterpreted the findings so badly.
C) Asthma Jump Start Program (June 2006-December 2010)
The Asthma Jump Start Program was a result of the collaboration between the Regional Asthma Coalitions of NYS and the National Institute for Children’s Health Quality (NICHQ). The NYS DOH funded the program. From their website, they describe the program as, “A project to facilitate training programs that teach the Model for Improvement as a framework to improve systems of care for treating children with asthma.” The Model for Improvement is the plan of action located in the picture above. Unfortunately, I have not been able to find much else on this project elsewhere online. While it certainly fits in with the type of work we do, I was unable to find anything about it. An interview with the DOH or Asthma Coalition would hopefully provide more information.