Office of Health Promotion and Prevention

The Office of Health Promotion and Prevention (OHPP) works diligently to promote healthy behaviors, prevent injury and disease, and connect at-risk people with services. OHPP programs work with multi-sector partners to ensure all Utahns can thrive in equitable, healthy, and safe communities at all stages of life.

Programs

Find overviews of our programs and site links

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Reports

View up-to-date health reports for Utah

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Utah HPI

Browse the Utah Healthy Places Index

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SDOH

Learn more about social determinants of health

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Programs

Utah Asthma Program Website

The Utah Asthma Program seeks to improve quality of life for those with asthma by increasing access to asthma education, reducing asthma triggers, and improving asthma medical care. To accomplish this, the Asthma Program works with the Utah Asthma Task Force, schools, and healthcare providers to identify and share best practices for asthma management. This includes promoting asthma self-management education in healthcare settings and through the Utah Asthma Home Visiting Program, reducing smoking and exposure to secondhand smoke, promoting coordination of care, and implementing policies that reduce asthma triggers.

BeWise Program Website

The BeWise Program provides qualifying women, ages 40-64, access to free cardiovascular screening, evidence-based lifestyle programs, and individual health coaching. These services provide participants with the knowledge, skills, and opportunities to help them improve their diet and physical activity, and make other desired lifestyle changes. The program partners with local health departments, federally qualified health centers, Utah State University Extension, Wellness Works, and other community organizations.

The Community Food Security Program (CFSP) aims to cultivate an equitable and resilient local food system that ensures all Utahns have access to affordable, safe, nutritious, and culturally appropriate food. The program does this through the coordination of three produce incentive programs: Double Up Food Bucks, Produce Rx, and Senior Farmers Market Nutrition. These state and federally funded programs provide additional dollars to food insecure Utahns to purchase produce from local farmers. CFSP also oversees the Local Food Purchasing Assistance program that improves agriculture and supply chain resiliency by supporting emergency food networks to establish partnerships with local food producers.

The Utah Comprehensive Cancer Control Program (CCC) is dedicated to the idea that all Utahns deserve equal opportunity and access to achieving good health. CCC supports the Utah Cancer Action Network (UCAN) to bring together individuals, cancer survivors, health professionals, hospitals, policy makers, and other organizations interested in preventing and controlling cancer. In partnership with UCAN, CCC developed a state-wide cancer prevention and control plan that guides program efforts in addressing priority cancer issues in Utah. CCC supports UCAN members and community organizations in successfully implementing this plan and developing sustainable and impactful interventions to alleviate the cancer burden in Utah.

The Disability and Health Program (DHP) works to ensure that the needs of people with disabilities are included in public health programs, services, data collection, policies, and systems. The program focuses on data collection and reporting, increasing accessible health promotion and disease prevention programs and services, and improving access to preventive healthcare services and facilities. DHP supports the Utah Disabilities Advisory Committee (UDAC), to bring together disability advocacy organizations, self-advocates, state agencies and programs, healthcare providers, and other stakeholders. The UDAC provides guidance and expertise to support the goal of addressing statewide needs related to reducing health disparities among adults with disabilities.

Baby Your Baby Website

Check Your Health Website

The Health Resource Center (HRC) connects callers at the Utah Department of Health and Human Services to department programs and community resources. HRC assists those in need with applying for programs like CHIP, Medicaid, Baby Your Baby, the Breast & Cervical Cancer Screening Program, and more. The Baby Your Baby and Check Your Health media campaigns are housed within HRC.

Healthy Aging Program Website

The vision of the Healthy Aging Program (HAP) is to empower adults to age well through a menu of evidence-based classes while supporting a sustainable age-friendly public health system through partnerships, surveillance and evaluation, promoting the use of best practices, sharing resources, and facilitating communication through the Living Well Coalition. The coalition includes partnerships from local health departments, area agencies on aging, healthcare systems, higher educational systems, and community based organizations. HAP currently focuses on supporting those living with arthritis and its co-existing chronic conditions, falls prevention, and Parkinson’s disease tracking.

HEAL Program Website

The Healthy Environments Active Living (HEAL) Program aims to assist all Utahns to have equitable opportunities to lead healthy, informed, safe, and productive lives. HEAL collaborates with a variety of partners including schools, child care, worksites, non-profits, community based organizations, health systems, and other state agencies. These partnerships create community-clinical linkages and address social determinants of health to improve education, policy, built environment, health equity, and access to quality care in the prevention and management of obesity, diabetes, chronic kidney disease, heart disease, and stroke.

Substance Use Disorder Prevention Program Website

The Substance Use Prevention Program (SUD Px) provides support to Utah's complex substance use disorder (SUD) prevention system. The program is focused on increasing community-driven evidence-based SUD prevention aimed at reducing risk factors and increasing protective factors proven to reduce the onset of substance misuse. SUD Px provides funding, training, and technical assistance to Local Substance Abuse Authorities and community coalitions.

Tobacco Free Utah Website

The Tobacco Prevention and Control Program (TPCP) uses evidence-based strategies to promote health equity and reduce tobacco use and tobacco-related disease, death, and disparities among Utahns. Utah has been a leader in tobacco prevention and control for decades through comprehensive tobacco program efforts, innovative policies, and powerful partnerships. TPCP strongly believes it is possible to have a Utah free of commercial tobacco use and nicotine addiction.

VIPP Website

The Violence and Injury Prevention Program (VIPP) works to make Utah safer and injury-free. For decades, injuries have been the leading cause of death for Utahns under the age of 50. VIPP is well respected, both locally and nationally, for its use of data to target prevention efforts that minimize risk and correct unhealthy or unsafe behaviors. Data show that the social determinants of health (SDOH), like access to healthcare, economic stability, safe and healthy social norms, safe environments, and social connectedness, play a significant role in the safety and health of Utahns. VIPP focuses program efforts on the shared risk and protective factors associated with the SDOH in order to reduce violence and injury in Utah.

Reports

View OHPP reports:

Prevention Block Grant Plan

Preventive Health and Health Services Block Grant Work Plan

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Adolescent Health Report

View the 2021 Utah Adolescent Health Report

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Social Determinants of Health

Everyone deserves the opportunity to live a full and healthy life. Social determinants of health (SDOH) are the community conditions and neighborhood environments in which we are born, grow, live, work, and age. These are sometimes referred to as upstream factors. SDOH have a major impact on people’s health, well-being, and quality of life.

Based on the Healthy People 2030 Social Determinants of Health

A public health approach includes taking action to improve the conditions in people's environments. The Office of Health Promotion and Prevention is committed to addressing the social determinants of health and supporting health equity.

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