It will feature something new.
Frederick, Md (KM) Next month’s update meeting of the Local Health Improvement Action Plans will feature something different.
The Frederick County Health Care Coalition, with the help of volunteers, developed three health care priorities for the county. They are behavioral health, senior citizen issues and adverse childhood experiences. Work groups have been studying these issues, and presenting reports at update meetings in the past.
The next update meeting is on June 20th at the C. Burr Artz Library in Frederick. The work groups focusing on behavioral health and senior citizen issues will present their reports beginning at 5:00 PM. . But the group working on adverse childhood experiences will instead hold a Parent Cafe. “But I understand it’s being conducted in a way around small tables. It will be more of a cafe-style conversation in small groups,” says Dr. Barbara Brookmyer, Frederick County’s Health Officer.
She says parents will discuss ways to deal with the stress of raising children “in a supportive environment.” Dr. Brookmyer says participants will also talk about how to make children more resilient in dealing with adversity. “How can we help support our children in being able to bounce back more quickly from adversity,” she says. “Because adversity is unavoidable. But we can help children and adults build a capacity to be able to be more resilient.”
The Parent Cafe is free, but anyone who wants to participate must sign up before June 13th. They can call 301-663-4231, or go on line to register at https://bit.ly/2wAErzs. Participants should have at least one child from birth to age 5. Registration is limited to 32 people. A light dinner and child care will be provided.
After the meeting, Dr. Brookmyer says work groups will continue their efforts, and are expected to prepare draft versions of their plans, which will be available to the public. That’s expected by 2019, she says.
Then the process starts all over again. “We;ll start a whole other round of having the public vote on what their priorities are for local health improvement. And then after that, we’ll go on to work on each of these priorities and then the cycle renews itself,” says Dr. Brookmyer.
By Kevin McManus