One of the projects we are most proud of is MountainElements, a first-of-its-kind, eight-county health impact assessment (HIA). The goal of the assessment is to merge the conversations about planning and health to identify policies, plans, programs and projects that create a healthier region, one that builds capacity through counties, towns and communitities. The next phase will incude a series of workshops, happening next week, where we will be asking residents to participate. If you would like to take a part in a workshop, register HERE.
MountainElements is focused on economic growth, job creation, mobility, access to nature, creating healthy conditions for citizens of all ages and abilities, and making sure future generations have a place to grow and prosper. There has not been a regional, county-by-county Health Impact Assessment for Comprehensive Plans undertaken in the United States, but we, in Western North Carolina, are ready to blaze the trail with MountainElements.
The MountainElements Approach Includes:
- Conducting a Health Impact Assessment on proposed plans and policies related to Comprehensive Plans, Transportation Plans, Parks and Recreation Plans for all 8 counties in the MountainWise area.
- Developing Health & Wellness elements for Comprehensive Plan integration in all 8 counties.
- Evaluating built environment planning and policy through the lens of seven dimensions of health and wellness – physical,emotional, social, environmental, spiritual, intellectual and economic.
To accomplish our goals, in late 2013, MountainWise staff began conducting individual meetings with each county’s Health Director and Planning or Economic Development Director in order to understand the work being done in each county and to understand each county’s individual needs. By developing an understanding our region’s unique needs, we can tailor MountainElements to each community’s context.
We coordinated with the Comprehensive Plan charrette conducted as part of the regional Opt-In effort in Cherokee and Graham Counties in February. Draft Health and Wellness chapters, led by the MountainElements team, will be incorporated into these Comprehensive Plans.
Since December, we have been diligently working on the Assessment Phase of the MountainElements Health Impact Assessment. The Assessment Phase (step 3 in the six-step HIA process) has involved four main elements:
- Evaluating existing data at the Census Tract level to identify Hot Spots within the region that have a high prevalence of poor health conditions;
- Reviewing existing town and county plans within the 8-county MountainWise area to identify common themes related to public health;
- Conducting a review and analysis of existing state policies that link health and built environment; and
- Synthesizing county financial documents to identify thresholds by which each county is investing resources in public health-related endeavors.
As you can imagine, a comprehensive review and evaluation of this data took a little while, but we are happy to report that this phase wrapped up at the end of March. Our next step in the process will be to hear recommendations from the folks who live in each of these counties as well as health directors and planners. Please join us for one of the many workshops happening next week. To register, GO HERE.