The community health needle appears to be moving in a positive direction.
That’s the takeaway from scores generated through at Healthy Schools Healthy Communities (HSHC) assessment of the health climate for the Jefferson City area.
In 2015, the Community Healthy Living Index (CHLI) assessment showed the needed focus areas and became a sort of guideline to create an action plan.
Through the assessment, an HSHC task force — made up of stakeholders from Jefferson City, hospitals, Missouri River Regional Library, Cole County, Holts Summit, and other agencies and organizations — completes a questionnaire that helps the Missouri Foundation for Health gauge health efforts in communities.
The foundation was created in 2000 following Blue Cross Blue Shield of Missouri’s conversion to for-profit status. It created the HSHC initiative to address childhood obesity.
Stakeholders responded to the same questions this summer that they received in 2015.
The questionnaire asks:
• What is the makeup of the task force?
• Does it include representatives of faith communities? Parks or recreation departments? Law enforcement? Universities or colleges? Local government? School officials? And other stakeholders?
Depending on the responses — “yes,” “in development” or “no” — the assessment receives a score.
It asks what percentage of communities, in stakeholders’ opinions, contain walking, biking or other physical activities or events. What percentage of communities have programs that support healthy eating? What percentage of the cost for partnerships that promote healthy eating does the community pay? What cost for healthy activities or health education does the community pay? How much does the community fund farmers markets? What percentage of the community’s roads are being redeveloped to accommodate walking and biking? How much of new development includes sidewalks, bike lanes and/or open spaces? What percentage of food stores and restaurants offer healthy options?
Based on the task force’s responses, the foundation assigns scores to each category, said Ashley Varner, healthy communities coordinator for Capital Region Medical Center. For example, there are 11,200 possible points for “General Practices in Support of Healthy Living.” The task force responses earned 5,150 points (46 percent of the possible total) in 2015 and 8,300 points (74 percent) in 2018.
The assessments were to be done at the beginning of the five-year grant for HSHC, again in the middle of the period and again when the grant is completed.
In 2018, the task force received a score of 3,500 out of 8,400 possible (42 percent) for its assessment of the “Physical Environment Related to Physical Activity.”
Overall, the assessment received a 54 percent total score in 2018 — which was up from 31 percent in 2015.
“It’s based on opinion,” she said. “I worked hard to get the right people to the table for those (assessments).”
Following the initial assessment, Varner was required to come up with and implement an action plan to create healthier environments in the region.
“All the activities that I’ve implemented in the community have had a direct impact on these numbers,” Varner said. “The good news is we moved up.”
Over the past year, the HSHC implemented numerous programs and events in each of three Mid-Missouri school areas.
In Eldon, it has helped organize a Wellness Week, worked on a bicycle/pedestrian plan, worked with the city on a complete street policy, added playground equipment at Rock Island Park, offered health concessions at the Eldon Aquatics Center, promoted a walk-to-school day and partnered with the after-school program on cooking classes.
From 2013-18, Eldon has implemented 129 new programs and events.
Morgan County began 83 new programs and events from 2015-18. Highlights included participation in a National School Breakfast Week, offering a Kids in the Kitchen class, working on a bicycle/pedestrian plan, healthy concessions at the city pool and in the park (which included improvements to the concession stand to make it more hygienic) and preparations for a possible “teaching kitchen.”
Highlights in the Jefferson City area include implementation of “walking school buses” at Thorpe Gordon and East elementary schools.
East Elementary School also installed funnel ball and an inside tower garden. South Elementary School implemented a pilot Girls on the Run program and an outdoor learning classroom.
Callaway Hills led the way with cooking, garden and fitness clubs, outdoor fitness equipment along a track, mini-trampolines in the classrooms, and a themed fitness week for children.
For the general public, HSHC implemented the Spin bike-share program, continued to improve healthy concessions at Jefferson City Public Schools and Helias Catholic High School, installed a community garden in Holts Summit, set up a water bottle-refilling station in Holts Summit, and began the High Street Harvest.
The efforts have resulted in communities having more physical activity, Varner said, and more support for healthy eating.
“The main motivation here is sustainability. When I’m done, all the things I’m doing have to be sustainable,” she said. “We’re going to move the needle.”