What is Healthy Cities/Healthy Communities? ___Healthy Cities/Healthy Communities provides an intellectual and philosophical framework for an inclusive, participatory process of developing a healthy community. The two basic premises upon which Healthy Cities/Healthy Communities rests are: ___A comprehensive view of health. ___A commitment to health promotion. Why use Healthy Cities/Healthy Communities? You use Healthy Cities/Healthy Communities because: ___It takes a community perspective on issues and health promotion. ___It brings a sense of community ownership to any initiative. ___It provides a broader range of ideas. ___It gives access to citizens’ knowledge of the community. ___It encourages community-wide ties. ___It assumes participatory planning. ___It sets achievable goals. ___It asks for the identification and use of community assets and resources. ___It establishes a community commitment to the process over the long term. ___It creates a healthy community self-image. Who should participate in Healthy Cities/Healthy Communities? ___You try to engage everyone in the community. You make particular efforts to engage: ___Local officials. ___Target populations. ___Anyone who implements or administers, or whose life or job will be changed or affected by, the initiative. ___All the agencies, organizations, and institutions that will need to cooperate or collaborate in order to realize goals. ___Local opinion leaders. How do you use Healthy Cities/Healthy Communities? You include the necessary components of a successful Healthy Cities/Healthy Communities initiative by encouraging the community to: ___Create a compelling vision based on shared values. ___Embrace a broad definition of health and well-being. ___Address quality of life for everyone. ___Engage diverse citizen participation and be citizen-driven. ___Encourage multisectoral membership and widespread community ownership. ___Acknowledge the social determinants of health and the interrelationship of health with other issues (housing, education, peace, equity, social justice). ___Address issues through collaborative problem-solving. ___Focus on systems change. ___Build capacity using local assets and resources. ___Measure and benchmark progress and outcomes. To approach a Healthy Cities/Healthy Communities process, you: ___Assemble a diverse and inclusive group. ___Generate a vision. ___Assess the assets and resources in the community that can help you realize your vision, and the issues that act as barriers to it. ___Choose a first issue to focus on. ___Develop a community-wide strategy, incorporating as many organizations, levels, and sectors as possible. ___Implement the plan. ___Monitor and adjust your initiative or intervention. ___Establish new systems that will maintain and build on the gains you’ve made. ___Celebrate benchmarks and successes
