Discussion Points
In order to check understanding and to help your troop explore important public health topics further, here are some discussion points to consider.
- What information was new to you and/or surprised you?
- How much exercise do you get throughout the day and how do you get it?
- What are your favorite ways to get healthy foods into your diet?
- What do you think about how doctors determine whether you’re healthy or not by looking at your BMI?
- How does your family prepare for emergencies? Do you participate?
- Where does your family keep first aid and other emergency supplies?
- What are your experiences with natural disasters?
- What are some of your experiences with bullying? Were you ever able to shut a bully down by standing up for the target of the bullying?
- Did you know that assumptions could be so hurtful? What have you experienced?
- How could you safely get out of a situation where you were being pressured to do intimate things?
- What kind of access to birth control do you think teens should have?
- What are some things that have helped you when you felt stressed?
- What other public health topics, besides the six you just learned about, do you think are important?
- Are there any places you don’t go because the air quality makes it hard to breathe? Have you noticed a difference in the summer months?
- Did earning the patch give you any ideas about what you could do to make an impact on public health issues?
Public Health Service Activities
If you’d like to get involved in public health outreach in your community, here are some things you could do:
- Call up your local Public Health Department and find someone who is willing to talk to your troop.
- Host or join a local park or river cleanup. In Georgia, we have a volunteer waterway cleanup called Rivers Alive!
- Donate different needed items to your school, recreation center or even a retirement home. They could be feminine products, sexual protection, masks, first aid kids, etc.
- Host an awareness event at school or in the community. Make posters to announce it!
- Start a club at school to help improve mental health. Think outside the box about how to promote positivity, relaxation and support like a yoga club, walking club, or alliance club.
- Petition for change in laws that impact public health like clean energy solutions.
Additional Public Health Resources
It’s important to use well-known credible resources when learning about a topic. Here are a few of our favorite public health resources.
- CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
https://www.cdc.gov/ - CDC Museum
https://www.cdc.gov/museum/ - SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration)
https://www.samhsa.gov/ - FDA (U.S. Food and Drug Administration)
https://www.fda.gov/
- NIH (National Institutes of Health)
https://www.nih.gov/ - Healthline
https://www.healthline.com/ - National Academies: Sciences, Engineering, Medicine
https://www.nationalacademies.org/ - StopBullying.gov
https://www.stopbullying.gov/ - DoSomething.org
https://www.dosomething.org/