Healthy Communities

Implementation Tools

• A Review of Health Impact Assessments in the U.S.: Current State-of-Science, Best Practices, and Areas for Improvement, Office of Research and Development, US Environmental Protection Agency
• Action Resources: Dementia-Friendly Communities, Act on Alzheimer’s
• Active Community Environments (ACEs) Initiatives, Wisconsin Department of Health Services
• Active Design Guidelines, Promoting Physical Activity and Health in Design (2010) and supplements on Promoting Safety, Affordable Designs for Affordable Housing, and Shaping the Sidewalk Experience, Center for Active Design, et. al.
• Building Healthy Communities,” pages 243 to 265 in “Cities at Work: Progressive Local Policies to Rebuild the Middle Class, Joel Rogers and Satya Rhodes-Conway, COWS [Center on Wisconsin Strategy] (February 2014)
• Built Environment and Public Health Clearinghouse, Georgia Institute of Technology School of City & Regional Planning
• California Healthy Eating Active Living (HEAL) Cities Campaign
• Center for Health Equity and Place, including a tool group, PolicyLink
• Change Lab Solutions
• Cities for Workforce Health, League of California Municipalities
• Design for Health
• Designing and Building Healthy Places, Center for Disease Control and Prevention
• Food System Initiatives, Wisconsin Department of Health Services
• Form-Based Codes Institute
• Health in All Policies: A Guide for State and Local Government
• Healthier Communities Initiative, YMCA of the USA
• “Inclusive Design for Getting Outdoors,” I’DGO
• Planning and Community Health Planning Center, American Planning Association
• The Neighborhood Improvement Districts (NID) Handbook
• Toward a Sustainable Community: A Toolkit for Local Government,” Volume 2, University of Wisconsin-Extension, chapter on Local Food (2013)

Reports

• Beyond Storms & Droughts: The Psychological Impacts of Climate Change, ecoAmerica and the American Psychological Association (2014)
• Developing Built Environment Programs in Local Health Departments: Lessons Learned From a Nationwide Mentoring Program” American Journal of Public Health: May 2014, Vol. 104, No. 5, pp. e10-e18.
• Do health impact assessments make a difference? A national evaluation of HIAs in the United States, Bourcier, E., Charbonneau, D., Cahill, C., & Dannenberg, A.. Center for Community Health and Evaluation (2014)
• Green Cities:  Good Health, Urban and Community Forestry, Forest Service, US Departmnt of Agriculture and University of Washington
• Landscape and Human Health Laboratory
• Places in the Making: How placemaking builds places and communities, Susan Silberberg, et. al., MIT Department of Urban Studies and Planning (2013)
• Time to Act: Investing in the Health of Our Children and Communities,” Recommendations From the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Commission to Build a Healthier America

Metrics

• County Health Rankings and Roadmaps
• Community Healthy Living Index, YMCA of the USA
• Creating a Health Profile of Your Neighborhood, A How-To Guide, Center for Disease Control and Prevention
• The Anchor Dashboard: Aligning Institutional Practices to Meet Low-Income Community Needs, Steve Dubb, Sarah McKinley and Ted Howard, The Democracy Collaborative at the University of Maryland, chapter (2013), includes outcome metrics on safe streets and campuses, healthy community residents, and healthy environment
• Wisconsin Environmental Public Health Tracking, Wisconsin Department of Health Services

Case Studies

Examples of community initiatives in Wisconsin implementing 1 or more of the strategies in the recommendations.

• Health Chapter – Comprehensive Plan, City of Eau Claire
• La Crosse Area Climate Adaptation Study, Sally J. Kefer, Miscellaneous Publication PUB- SS-1119 2013. Bureau of Science Services, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
• Limiting Retail Alcohol Outlets in the Greenbush-Vilas Neighborhood, Madison, Wisconsin: A Health Impact Assessment, E. Feder, et. al., University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute (2013)
• Safe Communities MedDrop Program, Dane County

Contacts

• Nutrition and Physical Activity Program, Wisconsin Department of Health Services:
  • Jon Morgan, Physical Activity Coordinator
    [email protected]
    608-266-9781
  • Kelli Stader, Nutrition Coordinator
    [email protected]
    608-267-2282