Public Health Week Focus is Healthy Communities

Everyone deserves the chance to live a long, healthy life free from preventable disease and injury. In fact, it's what public health workers strive toward every, single day.

Inside health departments across the country, public health workers ensure the basic foundations necessary for good health - clean water, safe food, breathable air and access to life-saving vaccines, just to name a few.

However, to truly become the healthiest nation by 2030, important steps are needed toward achieving health equity.

One big challenge: taking on the social determinants of health that often put good health and longevity out of reach for so many Americans.

Social determinants are social factors and physical conditions of the environment in which people are born, live, learn, play, work, and age. Factors include hunger, lack of access to nutritious food, poverty, unemployment or underemployment, lack of a quality education, and unsafe housing or neighborhoods.

Changing these factors require an "all hands on deck" effort.

During National Public Health Week, April 2-8, the Marion County Public Health Department invites everyone to join the conversation about the role each person in the community can play to put good health within the reach of all residents.

Where people live, learn, work, worship and play impacts our health and our opportunity to ward off disease and injury.

Partnerships across public and private organizations are important to creating healthier people, families, communities and, eventually, the healthiest nation. This is possible when residents work together.

Each day of National Public Health Week will focus on a different public health topic that is critical to creating the healthiest nation, sparking new conversations and engaging new stakeholders in the community.

Each day will also celebrate, recognize and honor the contributions of America's public health workers. To learn more about the daily themes, visit nphw.org/nphw-2018.

Resources and programs available through the Marion County Public Health Department can be found at MarionHealth.org.

Homeowner Tips for Maintaining a Well

Residents who get water service from a private well rather than the public utility are encouraged to have an annual checkup by a qualified water well contractor.

This is the best way to ensure problem-free service and quality water.

Wells can provide high-quality drinking water, and about half of the U.S. population receives its drinking water from wells.

But with well ownership comes the responsibility of keeping the water well in good working order.

The Marion County Public Health Department offers free testing of private wells for people in Marion County, and works to help keep groundwater safe. Call 317-221-2266 for more information.

The National Groundwater Association (NGWA) recommends that well owners:

Keep hazardous chemicals, such as paint, fertilizer, pesticides, and motor oil, far away from a well. And, maintain a "clean" zone of at least 50 feet between a well and any kennels or livestock operations.

Keep a proper distance between a well and buildings, waste systems, and chemical storage areas.

Periodically check the well cover or well cap on top of the casing to ensure it is in good repair and is securely attached.

Keep well records in a safe place.

NGWA further recommends testing water whenever there is a change in taste, odor, or appearance, or when the system is serviced.