SubscribePosts Tagged ‘Community’
Community Commons Seeks to Advance the Movement Toward Building Healthy, Sustainable Communities
There’s a movement afoot to build more sustainable, livable, healthy communities. It is a movement that is growing in momentum and collective will, despite what many feel are overwhelming statistics showing the rise of obesity and chronic disease in this country. It is a movement being led by people serving across disciplinary fields and political perspectives—community leaders, health activists, philanthropic organizations, and government agencies—all seeking the goal of thriving, healthy communities.
The healthy, sustainable communities movement is getting a tremendous burst of momentum these days from the internet, and more specifically from the creation of a unique online interactive space where folks can go to network with others, find targeted resources, and see what kinds of health and sustainability initiatives are happening in their community and across the country. One space where this is taking place is called the Community Commons.
The Community Commons went live in October 2011 and has recently launched its 2.0 version that features enhanced resources and functionality. It is gaining wide acclaim and is being heralded as the online space for public health advocates to learn, connect with each other, and share resources. Earlier this month, the Community Commons was the recipient of a first place award at the “Healthy People 2020 Leading Health Indicators App Challenge” announced at the 2012 National Health Promotion Summit in Washington, D.C.
Kaiser Permanente’s Catherine Brozena recently sat down with social entrepreneur Tyler Norris, who has played a fundamental role in shaping the creation of the Community Commons. We asked Tyler to share more about this movement for healthier communities and how the Community Commons is playing a pivotal role in advancing that movement.
Norris will be moderating a special Dialogue4Health web forum tomorrow on HBO’s Weight of the Nation documentary and accompanying public health campaign. Sponsored by the Public Health Institute and Kaiser Permanente, the forum will focus on exploring the key themes of the films and discuss how the assets available to individuals, organizations, and place-based partnerships can help create healthier built, food and beverage, social, and community environments. For more information or to register for the event, which is scheduled for Tuesday, May 1, at 1 p.m. EDT/10 a.m. PDT, visit here.
HBO Documentary Weight of the Nation Previews in Colorado
Launching one of the nation’s largest public health campaigns on obesity to date, HBO has joined with the Institute of Medicine, the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Kaiser Permanente and the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation to produce a series of documentaries called The Weight of the Nation. The series – whose TEDMED trailer screening earlier this month set Twitter abuzz – examines the obesity epidemic from every angle: agriculture, economics, evolutionary biology, food marketing, racial and socioeconomic disparities, physical inactivity, American food culture and the power of industry.
On Monday, April 16, HBO and Kaiser Permanente Colorado hosted a screening of part four of the series, “Challenges,” on the University of Denver campus. The screening is the first of more than 20 that Kaiser Permanente will host nationwide.
While Colorado is one of the fittest states for adults, it is facing one of the fastest growing childhood obesity rates in the country. For that reason, the event began with a health expo focused on healthy eating and active living, and the screening was followed by a town-hall panel discussion with local experts and Q&A with the audience. Below is a brief highlight reel of the evening’s activities.
The town hall discussion was also available to folks at home through Livestreaming. Watch the full presentation at http://new.livestream.com/cdphepsd/weightofco/. You can also read more and see photos from the event here.
The Weight of the Nation series debuts on May 14, exclusively on HBO. Further information on the series, the soon-to-be-published book of the same name by St. Martin’s Press, and the nationwide community-based outreach campaign can be found at theweightofthenation.hbo.com.
Thanksgiving Week Q&A on Food Access and Security
Continuing our focus on food security and access, we have a Q&A with Arnell Hinkle, MPH, RD, CHES, executive director of CANFIT (Communities Adolescents Nutrition Fitness). Arnell has been nationally recognized for her work providing culturally appropriate nutrition and physical activity education training resources emphasizing youth leadership. Below is a brief excerpt of our conversation.
CTH Blog:
Arnell, why don’t we start with hearing about CANFIT, and how you are working to make sustainable change in low income communities and communities of color with regards to creating greater food access?
AH:
CANFIT was established in 1993 to bridge the gap between communities and policy makers when it comes to dietary and fitness issues for adolescents in lower-income neighborhoods and communities of color. Today, we focus on youth engagement; we see it as an investment in sustainable change. We have worked with kids who developed the Youth Food Bill of Rights. And one of our current efforts, called the MO Project, focuses on teaching youth to use social media to advocate for healthier communities.
CTH Blog:
In terms of food access, help us connect the dots. What are the links between food security and health? Between food access and this country’s obesity epidemic?
AH:
Here’s the bottom line: People need access to food that supports health. From my perspective, there are really two food systems in the United States – one for those with means, and one for those with fewer means. And for those with fewer means, the food that is easy to access tends to be fast food, highly processed foods, foods higher in fat, sugar and sodium, fewer fresh fruits and vegetables, and more foods that contain hormones or chemicals – some of which can be obesogenic. None of those things support health. A big step would be improving the quality of the foods available to those with fewer means through the emergency food system (e.g., food banks and pantries) and the federal food system (e.g., school lunches, meals for the elderly).
CTH Blog:
What are your thoughts on food access and security in a week like this, with a holiday so focused on food?
AH:
It’s a tough time. With unemployment and inflation, people have less to begin with. And when it comes to expenses, the food dollar tends to be more elastic. Things like rent and car payments – they are usually fixed. So it tends to be people’s food budgets that are affected. And even in a week like Thanksgiving, a lot of people are forced to buy less or buy food that is less expensive, but often less healthy.
CTH Blog:
So what’s a small step an individual can take that can lead to meaningful change?
AH:
Write or call your legislators. Let them know you’re concerned. Make your voice heard.
Read more about CANFIT’s story and its policy work on food- and fitness-related issues at canfit.org.
For Thanksgiving: A Conversation About Food Security
This week, as many people prepare to celebrate abundance on the Thanksgiving holiday, we felt it worth looking at the topic of food security. Perhaps it’s a phrase some of us aren’t familiar with, but at the 1996 World Food Summit, the World Health Organization defined food security as existing “when all people at all times have access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life.” It’s a complex issue touching on availability, access, economics and policy. To help us better understand the topic, we sat down with Kathy Mulvey, policy director for Community Food Security Coalition for a brief Q&A.
CTH Blog:
Kathy, thank you for taking the time to talk today. First, tell us a little about your organization — Community Food Security Coalition.
KM:
Our mission is to catalyze food systems that are healthy, sustainable, just, and democratic by building community voice and capacity for change. The coalition’s more than 500 organizational members come from anti-hunger, public health, sustainable agriculture, community economic development, and other sectors of the food movement.
CTH Blog:
Let’s look at the issue of food security from the perspective of most people this week — which is Thanksgiving. It’s a day dedicated to food in our culture — usually the abundance of it. What’s the reality in terms of food access? How big a problem is hunger for folks in the U.S.?
KM:
This is a time when we traditionally focus on food and family. But this Thanksgiving, in particular, given the economic uncertainty so many families face, the need for a strong safety net is more critical than ever. As of 2010, 14.5 percent of U.S. households were food insecure. That means millions of families simply do not have enough to eat and are hungry.
CTH Blog:
These facts can be overwhelming; it’s easy for people to feel helpless and powerless to make a difference. What can an individual do to take action and try to improve food security in his community?
KM:
It’s important for people to reach out to their legislators and demand to have a voice about where our food comes from. And on a grass-roots level, there are lots of things anyone can do: Start a garden in your community. Meet with your local school service director about getting locally sourced and farmed food into the cafeteria. Or volunteer at a food bank. Just take action.
To discover more about Community Food Security Coalition and its policy and grass roots efforts – including handouts on community food security programs and what one person can do to help, visit http://foodsecurity.org.
Challenges to Building a Healthy Community
In this second podcast in a series of three, Kaiser Permanente’s Raymond J. Baxter, PhD, and his colleague Tyler Norris continue their conversation about a vision for the future of healthy communities. In this segment, Ray and Tyler discuss the challenges to creating and sustaining communities and environments that support good health.
Tyler Norris and Ray Baxter, PhD
Audio clip produced by Kaiser Permanente with interviews recorded by StoryCorps, a national nonprofit whose mission is to provide Americans of all backgrounds and beliefs with the opportunity to record, share, and preserve the stories of our lives. www.storycorps.org
What Makes a Community Healthy?
Today’s post is the first in a series of three podcasts on the topic of a vision for the future of healthy communities. The series features excerpts from a conversation between Raymond J. Baxter, senior vice president of community benefit, research and health policy for Kaiser Permanente, and his long-time colleague, Tyler Norris, a trusted adviser to KP and other organizations on work that improves the health of people and places. In this first segment, Ray and Tyler consider what it means today to be a healthy community: How do we create opportunities for health in our neighborhoods, and how do we support — even protect — the healthy elements of living already in place?
Have a listen. Let us know what you think.
Tyler Norris and Ray Baxter, PhD
Audio clip produced by Kaiser Permanente with interviews recorded by StoryCorps, a national nonprofit whose mission is to provide Americans of all backgrounds and beliefs with the opportunity to record, share, and preserve the stories of our lives. www.storycorps.org
Walking and the Community: Even More from the Walking Summit
We close out our video highlights of last week’s Walking Summit with this video featuring excerpts from the discussion on walking and the community. On this panel were Andre Blackman, with the American Heart Association and pulseandsignal.com; Scott Bricker, with America Walks; and Keith Laughlin with Rails-to-Trails Conservancy. Moderated by Loel Solomon with Kaiser Permanente, the conversation among the panelists explored the need to engineer walking back into our day-to-day lives, the demand today for information on safe places to walk, and the many benefits to making communities more walkable.
This blog is intended to be a place for robust dialogue on health-related issues. Statements on this site do not necessarily represent the views or policies of Kaiser Permanente. All content is copyrighted.
