CityHealth: Models for Community Well-Being

Ever wonder what it takes to change your community to become healthier?

At a recent Healthy Communities in PA call, Lauren Finn of Lancaster shared with VIM and others about a national group called CityHealth. CityHealth is a health research group that recommends 12 evidenced-based policies with a track record of bipartisan support.

These recommendations really piqued our interest! Ever since VIM organized focus groups about making NEPA a Blue Zone – an area of exceptional health and happiness – we've been intrigued about what we can do to strengthen community well-being. Since then, we started a weekly walking club, led Walk to a Park days, and created an urban trail, among other projects to get people moving and engaged with one another. So there were three recommendations in particular stood out to me as being especially relevant for communities in the Lackawanna Valley.

• Public Greenspaces: Providing more public parks and trails improves residents’ physical, mental, and social well-being. Simply living near a park increases our physical activity and lowers the risk of chronic diseases. Spending time in green spaces can reduce stress, anxiety, and depression, while at the same time improves cognition, attention, and sleep.

• Complete Streets: Changing street designs to more safely accommodate walkers, bikers, and bus riders support resident health by providing them more avenues for exercise and reduced air pollution from a decrease in traffic. Such changes would especially help seniors and youth, demographics least likely to have a drivers license.

• Affordable Housing Trusts: Poor health outcomes are associated with high housing costs, those spending 50% or more of their income on housing. Affordable housing trusts can fund specific community needs, such as age-in-place renovations, expanding homeownership opportunities, or increasing economic mobility for renters.

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According to Katrina Forrest, CityHealth’s Executive Director, the keys to succeeding with any of these policies are sustained collaboration between local leaders and community partners. Strong, trusted relationships are more important than any specific policy!

I highly recommend clicking through CityHealth’s Policy Package and reading about those U.S. communities that can serve as models for us. You can view videos of how places implemented the changes or even take a “deep dive” into their research protocols. It’s helped me imagine new opportunities available for the Lackawanna Valley!

What does a healthy community look like to you? You can let me know in the comments below.