NEW ULM — Brown County Public Health Director Jaimee Brand told Brown County Commissioners about the virtues of positivity to create conditions where the good can grow Tuesday.

Brand and Brown County Public Health Educator/Planner Eric Schwab recently attended The Montana Institute, a four-day conference that fosters healthier, safer, more supportive communities by applying positivity to create positive experiences for everybody.

“If we want health, we must promote health, sharing our data in a positive way to community perceptions because perceptions pull narratives, comparing positive childhood experiences (PCEs) to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs),” said Brand. “We learned a lot about how PCEs are more impactful to a child’s future than ACEs and how we can create PCEs.”

She said an example of positivity she learned helped public health create two billboards that read “Most teens don’t use marijuana. Ninety-three percent of Brown County teens haven’t used marijuana.”

Brand said examples of positive communication experiences come from being able to share feelings with family, knowing family stands with you, participation in community and cultural traditions, feeling a sense of belonging, friendships, having at least two non-parent adults who take genuine interest in them and feeling safe at home.

“Erin and I have some great ideas of how to implement what we learned,” said Brand. “We’re writing the community health improvement plan now and plan to replace some negative data with positive things to improve public perception. We want everybody to have a chance to have positive experiences. It’ll take time to change public perception, but I think it will be interesting and fun to do.”

Commissioner Dave Borchert agreed.

“I attended a virtual workshop a few months ago that addressed positive messaging,” he said. “If you have good things to say, then say them. Focus on the positive. When you show most people make good decisions and are substance-free, there’s a lot of value to that.”

Brand said she’s working on bridging data gaps between what’s happening and what is perceived to be happening. She said a Brown County student survey that showed most teens said they don’t use illegal substances but many teens believe many of their peers do use them.

“Numbers for those two questions were very, very different,” said Brand. “We’re talking about bridging the gap between the two survey questions by communicating positive messages that most teens don’t use illegal substances. We know peer to peer interaction works.”

She called the Montana Institute conference “a really great opportunity” and thanked commissioners for allowing herself and Schwab to go to the Montana Institute using Minnesota Department of Health Cannabis Use Prevention Grant funds.

Brand said current environmental health work includes concession stand and restaurant inspections.

“We got the plan review for Scooters, (a new drive-through coffee business under construction at Broadway and Fourth North Street), she said. “We asked for more information before a pre-operational inspection is done and they are ready to open.”

Brand said the Springfield Rothenburg Campground plans to add nine campsites, pending plan review approval.

She said Brown County Public Health partnered with Kids Connection/Little Kids Connection, a school-age child care program for K-4 students at Jefferson Elementary School implemented “Walk! Bike! Fun! Lessons every Tuesday and Thursday morning through July 16. The program stresses walking safety and biking basics. Call 507-233-6820 for more information.