Skip to main content
Healthy Communities

Healthy Communities

white drawing showing stylized representation of four individuals forming a community against a blue backgroundCommunities are the places where we live, learn, work, and play. The physical environments and local policies governing our communities can play an influential role in our health. Healthy communities support all of their residents in reaching their greatest health potential.
 
The MDHHS Cardiovascular Health, Physical Activity, Nutrition and Obesity Section is working with three community coalitions to improve healthy eating and physical activity across Kent County, Oakland County, and Berrien County. Together, these partners will work to connect sidewalks, paths, bicycle routes, and modes of public transit with homes, schools, worksites, parks, and recreation centers, as well as work with worksites and community settings to increase the availability of healthy foods.
 
In addition, the section is also providing technical assistance grants to Lenawee County to increase access to physical activity opportunities and to the Lac Vieux tribe to address food sovereignty by providing culturally appropriate food within their community.
 
For more information about Michigan's Health & Wellness 4X4 work with community coalitions and our other work to promote and support healthy communities, contact Stephanie Levey at 517-335-9595 (e-mail: LeveyS@michigan.gov).

  • Through policy, systems and environmental changes, Michigan Health & Wellness is an obesity reduction and prevention program implemented by community coalitions across Michigan.

    To learn more about any of the following community projects, please contact Stephanie Levey at 517-335-9595 (e-mail: LeveyS@michigan.gov).

  • The following resources were chosen to help communities make changes that can support a healthier lifestyle for everyone.

    • MI Health Tools
      The Michigan Healthy Communities Collaborative, comprised of partner organizations throughout Michigan, has developed online assessments and websites to help promote and support better health for Michigan citizens - in communities, at work, at school, and in places of worship. Community advocates, organization, governments, and coalitions can use these free online assessments and resources to determine assets and needs that will help their community support healthy lifestyles every day.
       
    • Healthy Michigan: Healthy Communities
      The Healthy Communities page, part of the MDHHS Healthy Michigan website, offers tools and resources to help community leaders promote healthy lifestyles and make it easier for their residents to be physically active, eat healthfully, and live tobacco-free.
       
    • The Community Guide
      The Guide to Community Preventive Services (The Community Guide) is a collection of evidence-based findings of the Community Preventive Services Task Force (CPSTF), which was established by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in 1996 to develop guidance on which community-based health promotion and disease prevention intervention approaches work and which do not work, based on available scientific evidence. The online guide is a resource to help you select interventions to improve health and prevent disease in your state, community, community organization, business, healthcare organization, or school.
       
    • County Health Rankings & Roadmaps
      The County Health Rankings & Roadmaps program is a collaboration between the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute. The goals of the program are to: build awareness of the multiple factors that influence health; provide a reliable, sustainable source of local data and evidence to communities to help them identify opportunities to improve their health; engage and activate local leaders from many sectors in creating sustainable community change; and connect and empower community leaders working to improve health.
       
    • America's Health Rankings
      For nearly three decades, America's Health Rankings has provided an analysis of national health on a state-by-state basis by evaluating a historical and comprehensive set of health, environmental and socioeconomic data to determine national health benchmarks and state rankings.

Return to Cardiovascular Health, Nutrition & Physical Activity Section home page

 

Please Note: Although we make every effort to ensure that our website is compliant with current Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) standards, some of the links on this page may lead to outside websites that are not ADA-compliant.