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Cochise County prevention services detail 2024 outreach, naloxone expansion and WIC milestones
Summary
Prevention Services outlined 2024 activities including health-education presentations, teen health curriculum outreach, tobacco prevention, naloxone distribution expansion, home visiting and WIC program milestones.
Suzanne Hiegal, prevention services division director for Cochise County Health and Social Services, summarized the division's 2024 work on Dec. 6, highlighting outreach to underserved communities, expansion of overdose-prevention services and a 50th anniversary milestone for the county's WIC program.
Hiegal said prevention services is one of seven divisions in the department and accounts for roughly 30% of the department's work. She listed several programs under prevention services: Health Promotion (chronic disease prevention, tobacco prevention, teen health, worksite wellness), HealthStart home visiting, overdose prevention and the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) nutrition program.
Health Promotion: Hiegal said one health educator delivered 67 free community presentations in 2024 on topics including brain health, hypertension and healthy eating, serving "just over a 1,000" attendees. The department rebuilt tobacco-prevention outreach after a vacancy and delivered school-based presentations; Hiegal said those sessions reached students across Bowie, Douglas, Bisbee and Sierra Vista.
Teen-health education: Two health educators delivered a 10- to 12-week evidence-based curriculum and, Hiegal said, reached "just over 1,100" junior-high and high-school students in 2024. She said Cochise County ranked third in the state for the number of students reached, behind Maricopa and Pima counties.
Worksite and school wellness: The county received a platinum award through the Arizona Healthy Worksite Program for the seventh consecutive year and maintained partnerships with several local hospitals and employers to support workplace wellness.
WIC and home visiting: The county's WIC program marked its 50th anniversary. Hiegal described a partnership with Vitamin Angels and a breastfeeding workshop held Oct. 11 that focused on gaps among Latino expecting and postpartum mothers. The HealthStart home visiting program operates countywide and staff recently developed a referral system with a local pediatric clinic to connect families to services.
Overdose prevention and naloxone distribution: Hiegal said the county expanded naloxone access points and distribution. She described statewide and county partnerships that supply naloxone to community organizations, law enforcement and health-care facilities and said there are now multiple access points around the county where people can pick up kits after viewing a brief education video. The program also operates a "link to care" transport service that has provided transports from jail to treatment facilities and has completed 75 transports to date.
Fatality review teams: Epidemiologist Rachel Rawlings compiles data for suicide and overdose fatality review teams; Hiegal said the county received a $55,000 grant to take over suicide mortality review teams for Greenlee and Santa Cruz counties beginning July 1 and that Rawlings has been asked to present at state and local conferences.
Why it matters: County prevention programs aim to reach underserved and rural communities across Cochise County, expand harm-reduction services and sustain nutrition and family supports.
What was not decided: No formal votes or funding decisions were recorded at the meeting; several programs referenced ongoing state grants and partnerships.
