Category: Cooperative Extension
Healthy Communities, Healthy Residents
November 14, 2024 Written by Gina Crist, Community Health Specialist - Health & Well-being Program Leader
A person’s health is determined by more than just the decisions that they make. Did you know that some of the largest drivers of whether or not someone can be as healthy as possible are actually determined by the societal factors in their community and environments that surround them where they live, learn, work, play and pray? According to the Rippel Foundation’s “Vital Conditions for Health and Well-being”, there are seven vital conditions that a person needs to thrive. These conditions are essential for healthy people and resilient communities. They include:
Humane Housing
Belonging
Basic Needs for Health and Safety (food, clean water, healthy relationships)
Reliable Transportation
Meaningful Work
Lifelong Learning
Thriving Natural World
Making a difference
To achieve all of these things, community organizations and residents must collaborate to identify strengths and opportunities and make changes. Many communities work in networks or coalitions, and many here in Delaware are doing just that to make a difference.
Improvement
Making changes like improving parks, improving access to healthy and affordable foods, improving skills for healthy relationships, providing educational workshops for people, and connecting to the natural world are many things that Extension works with partners on every day! Getting involved in many of our programs or working as one of our volunteers assists in creating healthy people and places across the state. Working together, we can continue to help Delawareans be as healthy as possible.