North Central Health District

June is National Healthy Homes Month

Posted June 1, 2018 by Michael Hokanson

Health Department Aims to Raise Awareness About Household Hazards

In the U.S. today, people spend close to 90% of their time indoors. While the home may seem like the safest place in a person’s life, there may be environmental hazards throughout a house. National Healthy Homes Month (NHHM), created by the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes, is an outreach campaign designed to help people connect the dots between their health and their home. This year’s overarching theme “Check Your Home; Protect Your Family”, was chosen to create awareness of what it means to have a healthy home by educating families of the importance of assessing the home for potential health hazards; and to empower people to make changes to create the healthiest home possible for their family.

“Our goal is to ensure that everyone has the knowledge and opportunity to create a healthy home environment,” said JaLisa Brown, Regional Healthy Homes and Lead Poisoning Prevention Program Coordinator with North Central Health District. “Certain hazards may be harmful to the health of your family, so it’s important to know what may be dangerous around the house. Once you recognize the problem, you can talk with us about safely repairing or removing the source of the problem.”

Currently, millions of homes in America have moderate to severe physical housing problems, including dilapidated structure; roofing problems; heating, plumbing, and electrical deficiencies; water leaks and intrusion; pests; damaged paint; and high radon gas levels. These conditions are associated with a wide range of health issues, including unintentional injuries, respiratory illnesses like asthma and radon-induced lung cancer, and lead poisoning. The health and economic burdens from preventable hazards associated within homes are considerable and cost billions of dollars.

To teach homeowners how to recognize and mitigate these household hazards, each of the 13 NCHD county health departments will host information sessions led by the district’s Healthy Homes and Lead Prevention Program Coordinator. The full schedule of events includes:

• June 6
  Macon-Bibb County Health Department: 9 a.m.–12 p.m.
  Crawford County Health Department: 1–3:30 p.m.
• June 7
  Peach County Health Department: 9 a.m.–12 p.m.
  Houston County Health Department: 1–3 p.m.
• June 11
  Monroe County Health Department: 9 a.m.–12 p.m.
• June 12
  Jasper County Health Department: 9 a.m.–12 p.m.
• June 13
  Putnam County Health Department: 9 a.m.–12 p.m.
• June 14
  Baldwin County Health Department: 9 a.m.–12 p.m.
  Hancock County Health Department: 1–3:30 p.m.
• June 19
  Jones County Health Department: 9 a.m.–12 p.m.
• June 20
  Twiggs County Health Department: 9 a.m.–12 p.m.
  Wilkinson County Health Department: 1–3 p.m.
• June 21
  Washington County Health Department: 10 a.m.–2 p.m.

NHHM was established to focus national attention on ways to keep people of all ages safe and healthy in their home. It is aimed at boosting awareness and understanding of what federal and local resources are available. The events planned throughout the month will serve as a public communications campaign to promote awareness and advocacy, encourage local events, and provide resources and support to drive families to take action.

For more information about the Healthy Homes Program, call 478-751-6113 or visit HUD.gov/healthyhomes.