Health educator guides change

By Dan MacArthur
North Forty News

Effective public health programs don't always make the headlines, precisely because of their success in preventing disease, disability and premature death.

But in the span of her more than 30-year career, Ann Watson has witnessed tangible accomplishments that have made a real difference in people's lives.

When she started working as a public health nurse, even before the Larimer County Health Department was created in 1968, cigarette smoke filled the air everywhere, nearly half the population smoked and seat belts had just started being installed as standard equipment on vehicles.

Just retired as public information officer and health education supervisor for the Larimer County Department of Health and Environment, Watson leaves with the satisfaction of knowing that this is a healthier place to live. Smoking now is all but forbidden in most public buildings, a lower percentage of people smoke and buckling up is considered a standard practice increasingly mandated by law.

"I really believe public health has made a difference in people's lives," said Watson. "We get a lot of bang for the buck if you can prevent problems in the first place."

A Grand Junction native, she started out on a fairly traditional course attending the University of Colorado on a scholarship to earn her nursing degree. But Watson soon realized she didn't like working in hospitals and started a gradual gravitation to the health education field. She went on to work as a public health nurse, as director of the Larimer County visiting nurse association and as the professional services director for a health maintenance organization.

That experience gave her a greater appreciation for the preventative approach, and she decided to earn her graduate degree in health education from the University of Northern Colorado. When Larimer County created the health education position, she staked claim to it and made it her own for the next three decades, including 20 years as supervisor.

The big issues of the '70s--teen pregnancy, drug use, sexually transmitted diseases and smoking--remain the same today, Watson concedes, "but we've gotten better."

Perhaps the greatest advance has been in reducing smoking, Watson's personal crusade. The county health department has been a leader in that effort, she notes. It was the first in the state with a tobacco control officer in 1977 and the first facility to go smoke-free the following year.

That activism continued with Watson's bold advocacy driving passage of the Fort Collins ordinance that essentially eliminated smoking in most public places three years ago.

"The tobacco work is one of the most important efforts I've participated in," said Watson. "The whole attitude about smoking has changed."