Category Archives: Blog Articles

End the Stigma: Mental Illness and Substance Use Disorders

By Mariah Senecal-Reilly In October both National Substance Abuse Prevention Month and Mental Illness Awareness Week are observed. During this time families, communities, and organizations come together to raise awareness about the importance of substance abuse prevention and to celebrate people living in recovery. According to SAMHSA, around 43.6 million (18.1%) Americans ages 18 and… Read more >

Breast Cancer: It’s Not Just One Disease

By Emily Young, Public Health Educator Although often thought of as just one disease, there are many types of breast cancer. A woman’s treatment options and prognosis are dependent upon the type of breast cancer that’s diagnosed. In order to determine this, all tumors are tested for estrogen, progesterone, and HER2 receptors. Breast tumors that… Read more >

Film Students Team Up with the Health Department to Promote Safe Sleep for Infants

By Lisa GreenMills, Program Coordinator, Syracuse Healthy Start and Kara Verbanic, Public Health Educator Finding out you’re pregnant can be life-changing news, and along with all the congratulations and well wishes from family and friends, new parents also get bombarded with plenty of unsolicited advice! It can range from helpful, to mildly amusing, to outright… Read more >

The Pink Shawl Initiative: A Story of Joining Together for Breast Cancer Screening

By Emily Young, Public Health Educator For many years, the Cancer Services Program (CSP) has collaborated with the Onondaga Nation to screen local Native American women for breast cancer. This partnership has grown and evolved in many ways over the years. It is true that breast cancer rates do tend to be lower in American… Read more >

Carbon Monoxide Alarms Save Lives

By Erika Frye, Environmental Health Technician II              In October of 2014, the Onondaga County Healthy Neighborhood Program (HNP) visited a family who lives on Garfield Avenue in Syracuse. The HNP is a program that provides health and safety related services to people who live in the City of Syracuse. At the visit on Garfield Avenue,… Read more >

STDs: You Don’t Always See the Signs

By Melanie Drotar, Public Information Specialist and Karyn Johnson, Public Health Educator The Onondaga County Health Department recently collaborated with students at S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University on a video public service announcement (PSA) project. It was a perfect partnership: students produced these videos for course credit while gaining real world… Read more >

Get Screened to Prevent Colorectal Cancer

By Emily Young, Public Health Educator, Cancer Services Program Onondaga County Health Department  John* has been experiencing colorectal symptoms for a few months yet he hasn’t seen a doctor because he doesn’t have health insurance. He works full-time but his company doesn’t offer health insurance coverage. John is 55-years-old and knows that he should have… Read more >