Kentucky Youth Advocates last blogged about the health effects of secondhand smoke on Kentuckians on November 20 – the day of the Great American Smokeout, and the day that Gov. Beshear's recent executive order took effect to eliminate secondhand smoke and prohibit the use of all tobacco products inside approx. 3,000 state government buildings and outside on their campuses. Now that the 2015 General Assembly has begun, discussion and debates on a bill for a [...]

University of Kentucky first year dental students are a part of the #KySmileTeam. The holiday season brings about many reasons for families to smile, from holiday light displays to opening gifts. Oral health and the holidays are even celebrated in the song “All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth.” But many Kentuckians don’t have perfect smiles this holiday season. You are in the unique position to influence health outcomes by [...]

Kynect, Kentucky’s health benefit exchange, began its second annual open enrollment period on November 15 and will run through February 15, 2015. Governor Steve Beshear’s communications office reports that the first day of enrollment showed strong interest from Kentuckians as they began shopping for health coverage. Kentucky has remained a national leader in enrollment in health care coverage through kynect. In 2014, Kentucky had the second-highest reduction of uninsured people in the country, falling from [...]

Today is the Great American Smokeout, a day when the American Cancer Society encourages smokers to develop a plan to quit. The health impacts of smoking affect more than smokers, and a new law could protect workers from secondhand smoke. The Kentucky legislature has been debating passage of a smoke-free indoor workplace bill for several years now. It is easy for such debates to become about ideology, but the kickoff last week for the effort to [...]