Click here to skip to main content.
scenic picture from Washington state
Subjects › Health and Human Services › Healthy Communities › What is a Healthy Community?
Updated 02/2012

What is a Healthy Community?

Contents

Introduction

This page defines what is meant by the term "healthy community", which is used in the series of MRSC pages on Healthy Communities. The concept of healthy communities stems from the federal healthy people initiatives that provide a framework for prevention for the Nation and organizations that have a concern for sustainable environment. The national health objectives of 1980 and 2000 served as the basis for the development of State and community plans. Healthy People 2010 challenged individuals, communities, and professionals to take specific steps to ensure that good health, as well as long life, are enjoyed by all. Healthy People 2020 provides a renewed focus on identifying, measuring, tracking, and reducing health disparities through a determinants of health approach. In addition to the definitions, links are included to a number of the organizations that provide resources for creating healthy sustainable community environments.

Definitions of a Healthy Community

There are many definitions of a healthy community. The Healthy People 2010 strategy describes a healthy community as one that includes those elements that enable people to maintain a high quality of life and productivity. Some of the elements described in Healthy People in Healthy Communities: A Community Planning Guide Using Healthy People 2010 include: access to health care services that focus on both treatment and prevention for all members of the community; a safe community; the presence of roads, schools, playgrounds, and other services to meet the needs of the people in that community; and a healthy and safe environment. Healthy People 2020 MAP-IT: A Guide To Using Healthy People 2020 in Your Community provides a framework for implementation. The Centers for Disease Control defines healthy communities in its Designing and Building Healthy Places page as "A community that is continuously creating and improving those physical and social environments and expanding those community resources that enable people to mutually support each other in performing all the functions of life and in developing to their maximum potential."

Organizations and Agencies Promoting Healthy Communities

  • Active Living Research - A national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which contributes to the prevention of childhood obesity in low-income and high-risk racial/ethnic communities by supporting research to examine how environments and policies influence active living for children and their families
  • Center for Livable Communities - A national initiative of the Local Government Commission (LGC) - A nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership organization of elected officials, city and county staff, and other interested individuals throughout California and other states. The Local Government Commission helps local governments identify and implement solutions to today's problems.
  • Community Tool Box - Service of the Work Group for Community Health and Development at the University of Kansas. The Community Tool Box is a global resource for free information on essential skills for building healthy communities.
  • Healthy Communities Tools and Organizations, Association for Community Health Improvement - Healthy communities reference list of reports and organizations
  • Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities - A national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
  • Healthy People.Gov, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Disease Control and Health Promotion
  • Healthy People Consortium and Partners, Healthy People.Gov
  • State-Specific Healthy People 2010 Plans, Healthy People 2020
  • Sustainable Communities Online - The newly revised, updated, and redesigned website formerly known as the Sustainable Communities Network (SCN)