MEDIA ADVISORY


ADVISORY: HHS SECRETARY SEBELIUS SPEAKS OCT. 28 AT SOPHE ANNUAL MEETING
Secretary Sebelius to present Healthy Living Innovation Awards& discuss prevention at Annual Meeting for Society for Public Health Education

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE –October 21, 2011

WASHINGTON – The Society for Public Health Education (SOPHE) is honored to host Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius during its annual meeting on October 28, 2011. In a room filled with 500 public health professionals, the front line of American’s public health system, the Secretary will discuss prevention strategies and the role prevention plays in public health, as well as present the Healthy Living Awards to communities for their outstanding work in health promotion.

** MEDIA COVERAGE INVITED **

Who: HHS Secretary Kathleeen Sebelius discusses prevention strategies and presents the Healthy Living Innovation Awards
What: Society for Public Health Education Annual Meeting
Where:Renaissance Arlington Capital View Hotel, 2800 South Potomac Avenue, Arlington, Va.
When: Friday, October 28, 2011, 9:15 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.
Why: Our nation continues to transform our health care system away from a focus on sickness and disease to a focus on prevention and wellness

Following her remarks, Secretary Sebelius will recognize 8 outstanding organizations with the first ever Healthy Living Innovation Awards from HHS. The winners are:

§Faith-Based and/or Community Initiatives: Taking the YMCA’s Diabetes Prevention Program to Scale—YMCA of the USA, (Chicago, Ill.) Award being accepted by Neil Nicoll, president and CEO of the YMCA nationally.

§Health Care Delivery: Healthy Howard Health Coaching - Healthy Howard Inc (Columbia, Md.)

§Healthy Workplace (Large employer): Shape up and Go! - Cleveland Clinic (Cleveland, Ohio)

§Healthy Workplace (Small Employer): Healthy Living Partnership Project - S2AY Rural Health (Corning, N.Y.)

§Non-Profit: HealthyNC Hospitals Initiative: Healthy Food Environment Project - North Carolina Prevention Partners (Chapel Hill, N.C.)

§Public Sector: Exercise Your Right to Feel Better Minnesota - St. Paul-Ramsey County Public Health (St. Paul, Minn.)

§Schools (K-12): Mornings in Motion - Oak Ridge Schools (Oak Ridge, Tenn.)

§Let’s Move Cities and Towns: Shape Up Somerville - City of Somerville Massachusetts (Somerville, Mass.)

RSVP/Media Contact: Media interested in attending are asked to RSVP to Ami Neiberger-Miller, 703.887.4877, news@sophe.org

The Healthy Living Innovation Awards are a new HHS initiative designed to identify and acknowledge innovative health promotion projects within the last 3 years that have demonstrated a significant impact on the health status of a community or population.More information about the Healthy Living Innovation Awards can be found at: http://healthylivinginnovation.challenge.gov/

About SOPHE’s Annual Meeting
Being held October 27-29, 2011 in Arlington, Va., SOPHE’s annual meeting equips our nation’s public health professionals to help Americans live healthier lives. Topics discussed include diabetes prevention, environmental health, community intervention to decrease high risk behavior, chronic disease prevention, LGBT health, adolescent health, smoking cessation and diabetes prevention and management.

About SOPHE
The Society for Public Health Education (SOPHE) is a non-profit professional organization founded in 1950 to provide global leadership to the profession of health education and health promotion and to promote the health of society. SOPHE’s 4,000 international and chapter members work in various public and private organizations to advance health education theory and research, develop disease prevention and health promotion programs, and promote public policies conducive to health. For more information, go to www.sophe.org.

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