AD-Perspective
The Healthy Community Movement
While Healthy Community initiatives have been around for several decades, I thought it would be a good idea to provide a brief background. Librarian involvement in several types of outreach partnerships is also not new. The collaborative work of a Healthy Community described below may provide opportunities for librarians to fill the information void within a Healthy Community collaboration.
The Healthy Communities Movement is a collaborative approach to improving the health and quality of life at the community or local level. The Healthy Communities approach takes a broad view of health and includes a large cross-section of the community. Health is not just restricted to medical care. Community involvement would include citizens, support groups, public health workers, municipal workers, business leaders, health educators, nurses,and doctors. These collaborations do the work of assessing the communities assets, formulating a vision for the community, and developing and implementing strategies that address local health concerns.
History
The Canadian Health Minister's "New Perspective on the Health of Canadians" (1974) is considered the origin of the community Health movement. The report made the connection between health and overall living conditions, environment and behaviors. The report focused more attention on the individual's responsibility in changing behavior.
In 1978 the World Health Organization's Alma Ata Declaration made the connection between changing the social factors in a community to improve overall health. The declaration called upon the health care sector to work with people to make decisions that affect health in ways that are affordable, acceptable, and sustainable in the long term. (Vollman, page 7). The Declaration recognized the following elements as necessary for overall health:
- Education about health problems, disease prevention and control
- Safe food and adequate nutrition
- Safe water and basic sanitation
- Immunization against infectious diseases
- Prevention of local diseases
- Appropriate treatment of common diseases and injuries
- Essential medications
While the World Health Organization sponsored 34 'Healthy City' efforts in 1988, The first Healthy Community initiatives were begun in the United States in 1987 (California Healthy Cities and Healthy Boston). In 1989 the DHHS' Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion sponsored the Healthy Communities Action Project through the National Civic League.
In the 90s several states have sponsored health community programs and training initiatives through their public health office. Other Healthy Community initiatives and networks can exist through hospitals or other agencies. While healthy community initiatives have the common goal of improving overall health, initiatives can adopt varying models for assessing and addressing a selected health problem.
Principles and values
Healthy Community principles and values have been elaborated and are described by the Community Initiatives web site. (www.communityinitiatives.com/article3.html)
- Broad definitions of health and community
- A shared vision reflecting its core values
- Improved quality of life for everyone
- Diverse participation and widespread ownership
- Invests in leadership development
- Focus on systems change: that resources and decision making is shared throughout the community
- Identify and develop local assets: resources, talents, skills
- Benchmarks and measures of progress and outcomes
Examples
Throughout the previous decades, The University of Massachusetts Medical School program called Community Partners has sponsored Healthy Communities in North Quabbin, the Lower Outer Cape, and Northern Berkshire. Healthy Communities Massachusetts was created in 1994 to offer training and networking to healthy community initiatives throughout the commonwealth. The Office of Healthy Communities (http://www.state.ma.us/dph/ohc/ohc.htm), part of Massachusetts Department of Public Health sponsors a network of training and resource centers for Healthy Community initiatives.
The Maine Network of Healthy Communities www.thehcnetwork.org/mnhc.html) is also a statewide network of community coalitions. Its four core functions are promoting public policy changes, work with coalitions in collecting data, training and capacity building, and communication. Fifteen coalitions throughout the state make up the network. Healthy Greater Franklin County, Southern Kennebec, Fairfield are a few examples.
Ongoing funding for Healthy Community initiatives can be problematic. Few dollars are available from private funders and the broad nature of the Healthy Community process does not lend itself to the specific program categories of funding available from the federal government. Some initiatives and networks have been funded by the states, though state budgets are always precarious.
Despite spanning three decades, it remains to be seen whether the Healthy Communities Movement will be a longstanding method for improving health.
Healthy Community coalitions that survive do so because they've remained faithful to the process. These initiatives are also able to produce results and relationships that call for continued involvement from participants.
If member libraries have been involved with a Healthy Community initiative please tell us about it! javier.crespo@umassmed.edu
Sources
Norris, T; Pittman, M. "The Healthy Communities Movement and the Coalition for Healthier Cities and Communities" Public Health Reports, Vol 115 March/April and May/June 2000. (http://www.communityinitiatives.com/articl23.html)
Vollman, R; Anderson, E; McFarlane, J.; Canadian Community as Partner., Chapter 1: Population Health Promotion Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2004. (http://connection.lww.com/Products/vollman/documents/Ch01.pdf)
Wolff, T. "The Healthy Communities Movement: A Time for Transformation". National Civic Review, Vol. 92, No. 2, summer 2003, pp. 95-111. (http://www.ncl.org/publications/ncr/92-2/Wolff92-2.pdf)
Links to Look at:
Community Initiatives (http://www.communityinitiatives.com)
Community Initiatives is a national training and consulting group. Many of its principals have shaped the Healthy Communities movement worldwide.
Massachusetts Department of Public Health, The Office of Healthy Communities (http://www.state.ma.us/dph/ohc/ohc.htm)
The Office of Healthy Communities coordinates "all existing interdepartmental community health efforts that improve the health and quality of life of the community..."
Maine Network of Healthy Communities (http://www.thehcnetwork.org/mnhc.html) "We are a statewide network of community coalitions working to enhance physical, social, emotional, environmental and economic health in Maine"
Javier Crespo, Associate Director
