Celebrating Yesterday, Connecting Today, Creating Tomorrow - Empowering Communities to Take Action

On November 9, 2011, the Carver County Health Partnership (CCHP) brought together leaders from across the County - profit, nonprofit, government and private sectors - to talk about healthy eating and physical activity in Carver County. Held at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, the forum sought to: Celebrate the countywide successes related to healthy eating and physical activity. Connect with each other to help inspire and support healthy eating and physical activity across Carver County. Create a shared understanding and sense of direction as a county that values healthy eating and physical activity as part of a larger picture of community health. 

 

The evening featured:

1)      Terry Dwelle, M.D., North Dakota State Health Officer presented an inspiring keynote highlighting the need for community based change to reflect the communities perceived needs and solutions. Dwelle shared a call for policy, system and environment change from his national and international experience in developing and sustaining community-centered projects. Click here to view Dr. Dwelle's PowerPoint presentation.

 

2)      Robert Stevens, CEO of Ridgeview Medical Center presented emerging data on rising trends across Carver County that point to a need for action related to physical activity and healthy eating.

3)      Community leaders in breakout dialogues to generate next steps around healthy eating and physical activity

 

Dialog from the forum will be used by CCHP and participants to help envision and shape the future of health across Carver County. If you are interested in learning more about the forum, please contact Theresa Dolezal, CCHP Project Manager. You may also contact Dr. Dwelle directly at Tdwelle@nd.gov with questions related to his presentation at the forum.
What is the Carver County Health Partnership?
 

Vision: Carver County will be the healthiest county in the USA

 

Mission: Improve the health and well-being of all who live and work in Carver County by building “Healthy Communities for a Lifetime”

 

Goals:

1) Facilitate cmmunity engagement that builds connections and capacity for problem solving on community health and well-being issues

2) Identify opportunities and promote collaborative action on priority issues

3) Encourage and provide advocacy to support systems change and sustainability

4) Ensure adequate CCHP personnel and financial resources

Current CCHP Activity

Carver County is a great place to live, to work and to grow. Over the last decade, the Carver County Health Partnership has helped support a wide range of actions for improved health throughout the county. Embracing the areas diverse suburban and rural experiences we have focused attention on recreational activities, intergenerational connections and civic opportunities. Today, as children run through sprinklers, parents unload groceries and businesspeople rush to meetings, CCHP is asking, how is Carver County promoting and supporting healthy lifestyles including healthy eating and physical activity?

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Forum Follow-Up

Participants attending CCHPs November 2011 Community Forum on healthy eating and physical activity report a desire to create a “new normal” where community members bring their needs and solutions to a collective table, rather than organizations imposing solutions or programs for the community.

Many companies and community organizations have already taken innovative steps to make positive changes.  Feedback from forum attendees revealed that a comprehensive picture of everything going on in Carver County related to healthy eating and physical activity does not exist.  They also noted that there is no streamlined mechanism to share healthy eating and physical activity strategies that may be relevant and replicable across public, private and nonprofit sectors.

Driven by the community, CCHP wants to change that.

Noting a desire to continue the conversation about physical activity and healthy eating, and forum participants urged that the forum be “just the beginning.” Please check the CCHP website in the next three months to see how your ideas can be heard and acted on.  Your engagement will help guide our collective work as a community to make a real difference in the health of our colleagues, friends and neighbors.