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EDITORIAL: Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down

Richmond Register - 3/28/2019

March 28-- Mar. 28--Thumbs down...to Kentucky having the highest antibiotic prescribing rate in the nation. A new public health campaign is highlighting the need for education and awareness on antibiotic overuse in the state. Antibiotics are life-saving drugs that treat bacterial infections, including strep throat and urinary tract infections, however, overuse can lead to drug resistance. When that occurs, antibiotics no longer cure infections that they should treat. "Antibiotic resistance is a serious public health threat," said Bethany Wattles, Pharm.D. The statewide campaign, Kentucky Antibiotic Awareness, hopes to reduce inappropriate antibiotic use. Researchers recently found antibiotics are most frequently used for upper respiratory infections, many of which are caused by viruses that antibiotics do not kill. Wattles said the campaign has many resources for health care providers and the public. As Wattle said, we all have the responsibility to only use antibiotics when necessary, in order to decrease the spread of resistance as much as possible. She's right, and we hope this awareness campaign gets that message across.

Thumbs up...to the Eagles Nest Play School at Madison Southern. Students at Southern have been given a unique opportunity to gain firsthand experience in child care development through a special class being held in Emily Alexander's classroom. Alexander, the family and consumer sciences teacher at Southern, has opened her classroom up to be a part-time daycare every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. The daycare services last for roughly eight weeks during the spring semester, but during that time frame, Alexander's students are able to gain ownership of their education and put what they are learning to real-life practice. "We have lots of resources and lots of things I could allow them to do, but the thing I felt like we were missing was the element that allowed them to truly feel like they had ownership with what they were doing," she said. Alexander said some students end up loving the child care development experience, while others find out that working with children in that capacity isn't for them, which, in the long run, saves them time and money if they go to college for child care development. This is a great idea and truly innovative approach to teaching. We hope this provides an example to other teachers that they can think outside the box and make an impact on students.

Thumbs up...to the Safe Streets and Second Chances project. More than 400 Kentucky inmates are participating in a re-entry program focusing on services both during and after incarceration. Carrie Pettus-Davis, a researcher from Florida State University, said re-entry program specialists work with inmates. "They use assessment tools. They do individual counseling sessions. They do group counseling sessions. They act almost like community navigators for these individuals and they do it prior to release and then after the individuals get home," Pettus-Davis said. She said project involves comparing the incidence of recidivism for participants with those inmates receiving traditional re-entry services. We hope this project provides valuable insight to the state and others. Far too often, those that have been in jail end up back in jail due to not have the proper tools to succeed once released. Hopefully, this project can help turn around those statistics and help inmates become productive members of society once again.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Agree or disagree with the above or one of our columnists? Then send us a Letter to the Editor. Email editor@richmondregister. com and include your name, town and phone number. Must be 300 words or less. Your phone number will only be used to verify the letter.

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