I. Introductions:
Dawna Blackstone was welcomed as the new, full-time School Health Coordinator in the Greenville schools.

2. Community Health Assessment
Robin Mayo shared a draft assessment prepared by former Community Partnership Director Renee Speh, with assistance from consultant John Spieker. She needs volunteers for a working group to prepare this document for the printer, and especially to prepare data collected into a usable format. Interested PPHC members should connect with Robin.

3. Mini-grant guidelines
Robin also cited the need for volunteers to serve on a review committee for the PPHC mini-grant program. The purpose of the program is to increase community involvement to create long-term environmental and policy changes in the areas of physical activity, nutrition and tobacco use. She shared a handout detailing mini-grant guidelines and a partial list of previous mini-grant awarded to community groups. Members interested in serving on the review committee should contact Robin.

4. Eating Healthy in the Penquis Region
The PPHC is working with HMP groups in Millinocket and Lincoln on developing a restaurant guide for the area, as well as table tents for restaurants. A similar guide has been completed in the Bangor region. American families are spending an increasing portion of their food dollars dining outside the home, so restaurants are an obvious place to start targeting the importance of healthy eating. The first steps will be for PPHC to compile a list of restaurants in our region, and then contact those restaurants to get them involved in the program.

5. Update on regional collaborations
a. Fran Moore reported on the Youth Obesity/Youth Volunteer Program, which involves Mayo and other non-profits in addressing health issues in such a way that recognizes the hospital is not the center of healthcare, but part of a continuum of care in the community. He cited the need to involve student volunteers in community service activities.

b. Roxanne Nason, director of Mayo's WorkWISE occupational health program, discussed wellness initiatives involving Mayo's work force and other employers. Mayo employees have been surveyed to find their level of interest in wellness activities, and a Wellness Committee meets regularly to review issues involving nutrition and physical activity. The goal is to get employees interested in making healthy lifestyle choices. Specific activities have included an employee health fair, a Lunch and Learn nutrition series, and a weight reduction group program.

WorkWISE has also reached out to the Chamber of Commerce and other businesses to offer wellness programs at work sites.

c. Becky Walker and Sheila Grant of the Penquis Resource Exchange reported a draft of an updated regional resource guide is nearly ready for the printer, helped by a PPHC grant. They are working to make the guide more user-friendly and concise so that people needing to use local services and find them easier. They hope to have the first draft completed by Oct. 1.

d. Dr. David McDermott, a family practice physician at Dover-Foxcroft Family Medicine, reported how physician offices throughout Piscataquis County will be participating in the Maine Youth Overweight Collaborative, supported by the Maine Center for Public Health. This statewide initiative will focus on pediatric overweight issues by concentrating efforts to improve patient education and self-management skills, improve coordination between schools and physician offices, and provide doctors with clinical practice tools and data to improve care. The project will start in November.

McDermott said the project hopes to improve screening for overweight youth, and to build bridges between doctors' offices and schools so that once overweight students are identified, they can be directed to appropriate resources. Community collaboration will be extensive, including nutrition information available through the Cooperative Extension Service.

School Health Coordinators in attendance said placing a focus on school lunch nutrition would help their wellness efforts and assist the Youth Overweight Collaboration in achieving results. It was agreed that the community needs to start looking at overweight youth as a health issue and to encourage collaboration between the home, schools and primary care providers. This project should help make overweight kids a priority for the healthcare system.

Potential outcomes from the initiative could lead to education for school administrators and school boards on issues surrounding school nutrition and exercise, education of parents about health problems related to overweight youth, and creation of models through which PCPs can provide follow-up care to youth identified as overweight.

6. Resources
Robin provided PPHC members with nutrition and tobacco resources. She also shared information from the Sept. 14 HMP statewide conference on developing a sustainability plan for the local partnerships.

Next meeting:
Wednesday, Dec. 22, 1-3 p.m. at Mayo.

Minutes submitted by Tom Lizotte