Designing Healthy Communities: Places Of The Heart By Dr. Richard Jackson

Every person deserves the right to experience a sense of community amongst people who share a common characteristic. A sense of fellowship amongst similar people allows a person to become more comfortable with who they are through interactions with others who are going through—or have gone through—the same triumphs or hardships. Without this feeling of belonging, one could be driven into insanity. Anxiety due to isolation and desolation could run rampant through a person’s mind because of the loneliness that comes with a lack of community—making it an essential part of a humanhood. By definition however, community invites inimitability. Community can be defined as a group of unique individuals with shared characteristics. From that a

A community is a place where people around supposed to be able to live and thrive together. When one thinks of a community, the image that most likely is visualized is one of a place where each person lives harmoniously with all the other members of that community. While this may be the typical image of a community, it is not the realistic view. In reality communities can share both good and bad aspects. In Place Matters: Metropolitics for the Twenty-First Century Peter Dreier, John Mollenkopf, and Todd Swanstrom make the argument that the place a person lives ultimately matters over all else; the place which a person lives effects the choices that that he/she makes and determines his/her ability to obtain a

Since 1980, the United States has taken on 10-year plans that outline certain key national health objectives set to be accomplished during a 10-year timeframe (Shi & Singh, 2015). These initiatives are founded on medical care with prevention services, health promotion, education, community health care, and increased access to integrated services. The initiative, Healthy People 2010: Healthy People in Healthy Communities, launched in 2000. The initiative emphasizes the role of community partners such as

According to Stanhope and Lancaster (2008) defines a community as: “A social group determined by geographic boundaries and/or common values and interests. Its members know and interact with one another. It functions within a particular social structure and exhibits and creates norms, values, and social institutions” (World Health Organization [WHO], 1974, pg. 7).

The community I decided to research and compose this paper is one from which I live, Kent County Michigan. I gathered data from several different resources such as the Kent County Health Department and Michigan Department of Community Health in order to create a community assessment. The data I collected can be broken down into four different assessment pieces.

There are some challenges, as well, in implementing health promotion programs that use the social ecological framework. One main challenge is that programs are expensive and complex to implement in certain community settings. Also, there needs to be close coordination and collaboration between individuals and groups. In the article by Wagemakers et al., the authors developed a framework that links the domains of social environment and health, with key health predicting mediators, and operational variables of participation and collaboration (6). They based this framework on experience in case studies, audits of community health programs in the Netherlands, and ideas found in the literature. The authors offer four key guidelines on how to apply the framework that can help increase community participation and collaboration. These guidelines are: use the variables as a menu, set specific aims for social change processes, use an action research approach and triangulate data. This framework can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of community health promotion designs and address the challenges faced in implementing new programs.

This neighborhood is very culturally diverse and has a wide range of ages. There are both young and older families living in their neighborhood. Some aspects of the community that could affect resident's health are air pollution, aging populations, and noise disturbances. According to Health People 2020 leading health indicator for this population is environmental hazards. Some populations are disproportionately exposed to environmental hazards. As a result, health disparities exist. Exposures to environmental

The ultimate goal is to create environments in which New Haven residents can take the power they need to transform their health and even their lives. To build community empowerment among New Haven neighborhoods means building advocacy capacities that are focus on addressing social and health issues, mobilizing resources for sustainability within the community, and addressing stigma related to health care services through educational resources. I also hope that by working closely with New Haven neighborhoods, I will gain a greater understanding of how decisions made for individual patients affect the entire community. Similarly, I hope to gain greater insight into the social determinants of health that affect New Haven communities, and to use this information to guide the creation of intervention

"The places where people live, work, learn, and play will protect and promote their health and safety, especially those at greater risk of health disparities" (www.cdc.gov, n.d). The basic purpose is to ensure a healthy setting, which could include safe living quarters, healthy air, clean water, adequate sanitation in the food service settings, healthy food choices in vending machines, and/or quality health care (www.cdc.gov, n.d.). One way that the CDC can disseminate information gathered along with support of the data is CDC WONDER (Wide-ranging OnLine

There are several components of an organization: having an accomplished and competent workforce, the latest system for storing and transmitting data, and the proficiency to evaluate and respond to the health needs of the public (Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, 2015). Within these dynamics are the tools to enhance the health of communities by formulating environments that support & sustain optimum health, while promoting the learning of skillful behaviors. To break this down further, the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2014) believe that with the above tools, every public health

Pierce County has performed 4 MAPP assessments to determine how residents can achieve optimal health. Together, the 4 MAPP assessments will help the Pierce County health system devise a plan where residents can safely play, work and live together. Pierce County’s multitude of parks and recreation, and built environment is a noted asset in the CHSA and CTSA that are unfortunately underutilized by community residents. The Community Health Status Assessment (CHSA) confirms that there is a worsening trend in adult obesity and physical inactivity (countyhealthrankings.org, 2016). The Forces of Change Assessment (FOCA) and CHSA note that poverty plays a role in the health

The three videos showcasing the three winners of the Robert Wood Johnson Culture of Health Prize for healthy communities all impressed me by how the people in those communities were able to work together to achieve a common goal: better health and lifestyle for the community. Moreover, they were able to do so while facing difficult challenges and obstacles in different forms.

In public health, as in many fields there are a set of conundrums that practitioners, leaders and law makers have to address in order to provide the most appropriate service to their populations. One of these conundrums is the battle between what is good for the community vs. what is good for the individual. This topic will be broken up to the community vs. the individual, and discussed based on research done by Kass et al, and Oriola, and will be concluded by presenting possible solutions.

Karen Johnston is a director of a health planning agency which employs approximately 18 staff members and also serves on the Community Advisory Board (CAB). This program typically incorporates two student interns from her health planning agency. The CAB is a vital program as it advises the program faculty on issues that concern curriculum, internships, job placements, and scholarships.

The definition of community when I google it, is “a group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common.” I would describe community as a group of people who have common goals, thoughts, or interests.