The United States spends more money on health care than any nation in the world yet continues to fall behind on important health outcomes. For example, it wasn’t very many years ago that Americans had a life expectancy that was among the longest of any country in the world. Today, the United States ranks 43rd in the world in life expectancy. What’s more alarming is that the longer members of some new immigrant populations reside in this country, the more their health deteriorates. But what seems to be at the root of our nation’s deteriorating health?
Some people would argue that we don’t actually have a “health care” system. Instead, they would say that we have a “sick care” system focused on treating people after they have fallen ill. Furthermore, the Centers for Disease Control estimates that 86% of the nation’s health care dollar is spent managing chronic disease. Sadly, a large portion of chronic disease is preventable.
Recently, however, we have begun to see more attention placed on upstream, preventive actions aimed at maintaining health and wellness. These efforts focus not only on changing individual behavior through education but influencing what are referred to as the “social and environmental determinants” of health. For example, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is spearheading an effort to build a “culture of health” in every community across the nation.
The Cooperative Extension System is a part of these efforts to improve health and well-being. In 2014, the ECOP Task Force on Health challenged the Cooperative Extension System to boldly proclaim the contributions it makes toward ensuring lifelong health and well-being for Americans and serve as a champion for mobilizing broader university outreach related to health and wellness.
The report of the Task Force was accepted and endorsed by various boards and committees of the Association of Public and Land Grant Universities. A Healthy Food Systems, Healthy People Steering Committee was created to develop a broad-based initiative to improve human health and reduce chronic disease by capitalizing upon university expertise in agriculture, nutrition, community development, and the human sciences.
If we know that knowledge is not always enough to change behavior, how might Extension work in different ways to build a community culture that makes it easier for residents to implement healthy behaviors?
Some environmental factors are quite easy to change. The display of food in a cafeteria, especially a school cafeteria, can cause a significant effect on what foods are chosen. For example, “Healthy options are placed at eye level so they are more visible and more
accessible.”
A good example of this is the “Smarter Lunchrooms” movement. For more information visit http://smarterlunchrooms.org/
Thanks, good site. I’m trying to figure out the 1st steps to bringing such ideas and concepts to my local school district.
I’m excited to see the focus on health. In our new 4-H Healthy Living advocate program (4-H Health Heroes) we are first arming our teens with the facts and using that base of knowledge to empower them to build a culture of health, starting with their 4-H clubs, and extending their sphere of influence into the community. As is stated in the Cooperative Extension’s National Framework for Health and Wellness, “…this same system of Extension can do for the nation’s health what it did for American agriculture” (p.2). If early 4-H corn clubs could be part of bringing new agriculture practices to farms, then certainly today’s 4-H’ers can play a role in creating healthier communities.
Our Local Foods Signature Program initiatives can help address this issue in so many ways ( healthier eating, growing healthier foods, increased physical activity through gardening, etc.).
The Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program also works on changing health behaviors through P.E.S. changes. With youth, we start at the individual level by increasing their self-efficacy, e.g., how confident are they in asking their parents to provide fruits and vegetables in the home for snacks.
Thank you for your post and for speaking on this topic at the FCS Healthy People In-Service earlier today. As a new educator with a background in public health, I am excited to be a part of building a culture of health within OSU Extension. It is exciting to think that Extension could impact our nation’s health the way it impacted agriculture in the past 100 years!
This summer I was encouraged to start attending a fitness program at Great Seal State Park M-W-F at 6:00 am (cost approximately $5/day). It’s a combination of old school fitness exercises set up in three rotating stations, followed by trail running, and ends with abs or yoga. The program is hosted by a local chiropractor and his buddies. There are anywhere between 50-100 people in attendance from infant to 80’s.
As someone who HATES mornings and isn’t typically motivated by the idea of traditional work out plans or *gasp* running, I LOVE it! I love being outdoors in our state parks, in fellowship with community members, and participating in challenge by choice activities that have great variation and humor mixed in. I sweat with 4-H parents, members, and volunteers. For me, as someone who moved to Ross County for the job, it’s been a great connection to our community beyond my program. Plus, it’s a safe way to meet people and get outside.
Beyond my personal gains, I see this as an opportunity for Extension to step up– who says FCS/4-H Educators can’t be the one creating and offering the exercise classes, using Master Gardeners to maintain the trails, using 4-H’ers to build new exercise items for general use by public in state parks or other publically funded arenas? What’s holding us back? Obviously, this hasn’t been Extension’s business in the past… but maybe it should be something we move towards in the future.
I’ll leave you all with this snippet of a speech given by JFK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fISgKl8dB3M&sns=fb
As JFK challenges, this summer I’m trying to not be a spectator in the health and wellness world– and I’ve recruited a bunch of 4-H’ers and their families to take better care of themselves just by making it a priority myself– “a strong and better” Ross County. #communityculture
You are a role model for us all!
See you on the trails Katie- but not that early! Southern Ohio has many opportunities for hiking, biking, kayaking, and many aren’t even aware that these programs and resources exist. Many of my neighbors who had lived in Chillicothe their whole lives had never been to Buzzards Roost! I think you are on track with your thoughts!