Healthy Communities
What is a Healthy Community?
How did the Healthy Community movement begin?
What do Healthy Community groups do?
What is common to all Healthy Community projects?
How do you build a Healthy Community?
Who creates a Healthy Community?
What is a Healthy Community?
A Healthy Community is one in which people come together to make their city or town better for themselves, their family, their friends, their neighbors, and others in their community.
A Healthy Community:
- Creates ongoing dialogue
- Generates leadership everywhere
- Shapes its future
- Embraces diversity
- Knows itself
- Connects people and resources
- Fosters a sense of community
How did the Healthy Community movement begin?
The Healthy Community movement began in Toronto, Canada, in 1984 and quickly spread to Europe under the auspices of the World Health Organization.
The movement has grown rapidly since it was launched. There are currently 18 national networks and thousands of towns and cities actively involved in the United States and Canada, Europe, and, increasingly, the developing world, all of which reflect this approach in varying degrees.
The model emphasizes the recognition that health and well-being are interconnected with social, cultural, physical, economic, and other factors and that community-wide participation and collaboration are necessary to improve health and the quality of life.
What do Healthy Community groups do?
Healthy Community groups in Massachusetts, like communities the world over who have joined the Healthy Communities movement, work together on local issues that affect health and quality of life, such as:
- Public health concerns such as heart disease, substance abuse, and air quality
- Housing and education
- Youth development
- Access to health and medical care
- Child care and elder care
- Recreation
- A clean and healthy environment
- A safe environment
- Arts and cultural pursuits
- Transportation
What is common to all Healthy Community projects?
While each Healthy Community project is unique, all share some common elements:
- A participatory model that grows both from the ground up and the top down
- Ideas, actions, and solutions derived from coalitions of diverse groups
- Funding as a result of local commitment
- Priorities set on a local basis and reflect local values
- Conflict managed by dialogue and mediation
- Continual self evaluation that is part of the process, which is the focus
How do you build a Healthy Community?
1. Work Together
Local residents work together in an existing or new coalition or group to:
a. Decide what health means for their community
b. Learn more about the healthy communities approach
c. Study the needs and assets of the community
d. Identify problems and strengths in the community
e. Set goals to help the community build on its assets and become healthier
2. Take Action
Using the goals, the coalition or group sets priorities and develops a plan of action:
a. The whole community works together with the coalition or group on the plan of action
b. The coalition or group reports on successful outcomes to the community
c. The process continues with the community building on its successes, setting new goals, initiating new activities, and continuing the process of
improvement
Who creates a Healthy Community?
People are the key to a Healthy Community. Individual participants come in all ages, from all educational and economic backgrounds, and from all sectors of the community. Groups that may be involved include:
- Municipal and local government and planners
- Local business, industry, and economic development leaders
- Civic and cultural groups
- Community Health Network Areas
- Local residents
- Faith based organizations
- Hospitals and healthcare organizations
- Health and social service organizations
- Youth groups
- Education and training groups
- Local print, radio, TV, and web media
- Community foundations
- Recreational groups and facilities
- Arts groups
See Healthy Community Resources on our Resources page.