The Planning Process:
Public Health

Vision

By 2030, the community will exhibit a commitment to personal, family, and employee health and wellness. All citizens, regardless of age, disability, or neighborhood will have access to affordable, fresh, and healthy foods, and all neighborhoods will be connected through a comprehensive network of complete streets and Greenway trails. The community will exercise sound preventive health and chronic disease management measures, which will result in a decrease of the chronic disease burden, a decrease in youth and adult obesity, and an increase in our community’s overall health status and quality of life.

The community will not only be healthier, but children will be better prepared for education, and adults will be better prepared for work. Ultimately, this will result in a decrease in student and employee absenteeism, and an increase in school graduation rates and employee productivity, which will positively impact the community’s economic development.

A healthy community and strong public health system functions through seamless public-private partnerships leveraging resources, educating the community, encouraging local ownership of local issues, and decreasing competitiveness between community agencies. The community will be positioned to proactively respond to identified community health needs through ongoing assessments, seeking new financial avenues, and evenly dividing resources to meet strategic goals among all citizens, particularly children, the elderly, and those at lower income levels.

We encourage you to review the DRAFT Public Health chapter of Field Guide 2030.

Background

Though our community has been through strategic planning processes before, this is the first time that public health has ever been addressed in such a plan. Our committee was charged with the task. The importance of the health of our residents has never been more predominate given the challenges our society currently faces. Those challenges include inability to access health care, chronic disease and the overall decline in healthy living habits prevalent today.

The Public Health Chapter was developed by health professionals in our community representing the majority of organizations that are committed to all categories of health services in our area. Our vision is to develop and sustain a healthy community where everyone can thrive.

The long-range goals developed are as follows:

• Focus on prevention through increasing access to healthy foods and physical activity across all socioeconomic sectors.
• Prevent and reduce the burden of obesity and related chronic disease through increased physical activity and healthy weight management.
• Foster an environment that encourages the process and distribution of locally grown food and support sustainable agricultural development initiatives and practices.
• Develop and ensure safe and healthy environments both indoors and outdoors.
• Prevent and control disease and illness across the lifespan and protect the public from infectious, environmental and bioterrorist hazards.
• Increase access to health care services for all populations.
• Strengthen the Health Department’s capacity to conduct ongoing assessments, expand core public health services and programs, and serve as model for prevention.
• Improve the community’s health through prevention, early detection and management of chronic diseases.
• Establish a Public Health and Wellness Advisory Council to bring prevention and wellness to the forefront of the areas efforts to improve health.

As you can see from the goals, the chapter focuses on prevention efforts and places the responsibility for attaining these goals on everyone.

Our society will become healthier when employers provide a healthy work environment, when all people have access to fresh fruits and vegetables, when each neighborhood has close access to safe trails, when all people are engaged in appropriate physical activity and all people have access to health care services.

It is our hope that this chapter will lead to greater collaboration amongst organizations and public institutions in working together to address these issues for the benefit of all.

By: Brad Toft - Ozarks Regional YMCA and Carmen Parker Bradshaw - formerly of the Springfield-Greene County Regional Health Commission
4.25.2011