Community HLTH Weekly

Student Internship Spotlight: Micah Ferguson

Internship Site: US Department of Housing and Urban Development-Field Policy-Midwest Region

About Micah's Internship: I'm interning under the Regional Administrator for Region V, RA Diane Shelley. Right now, I am working on the reentry (providing housing to those coming from jail) initiative - we have visited some sites and community organizations, and now I am planning an event with landlords, public housing authorities, law enforcement, the U.S. Attorney's Office, and HUD Region V staff to discuss what HUD's role can be with reentry. Also, I'm doing research on HUD's lead contracting and grant program for lead hazard control. I am ultimately going to come up with recommendations on how to improve lead contractor recruitment.

About Micah: I'm about to be a Senior Community Health and Anthropology double major and my primary interests are in health policy and legislation. I will start my BS/MPH program in Health Policy Analysis and Evaluation this Fall.

Future Aspirations: I aspire to become a policy analyst, and eventually legislate public health policy on a state and federal level.

Announcements

Community Health Badges

The Department of Behavioral and Community Health is excited to offer our students the following three badge areas in the Community Health major:

Special Populations: Life circumstances and related bio/psycho/social conditions can warrant special attention in understanding the health risks of populations. People with characteristics or circumstances that have unique health implications may include the groups and subgroups in the following categories: women, children, ethnic minority groups, people with disabilities, the LBGT community, older adults, and people living in poverty, as examples. Specific health risks and approaches to addressing these risks are explored within this specialization area.
Health Communication: Health communication is the study and use of communication strategies to inform and influence decisions that enhance health. Health communication is fundamental in disease prevention, health promotion, health care policy, and the business of health care. Health communication uses a variety of approaches to deliver targeted messages to diverse audience segments ranging from at-risk groups to health professionals, to policymakers. This specialization focuses on theory and practice in understanding health communication uses, and methods and materials that can be applied to health campaigns and social marketing efforts.
Health Risk Behavior: Risk behaviors are those associated with increased susceptibility to disease and/or injury. Risk behaviors are many and varied and include cigarette smoking, alcohol and drug abuse, poor nutrition practices, unprotected sexual behavior, distracted driving, and violence, as examples. Understanding health risks associated with specific patterns of behavior, why people engage in health-risk behaviors and methods of prevention are explored in this specialization.

Click here to learn more about receiving a badge!

Live in Color Without Tobacco Focus Groups

Live in Color is conducting a project with the UMD’s Prevention Resource Center (@umdprc) aiming to reduce tobacco use for LGBTQ+ youth and young adults in Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties in Maryland.