Funded by a grant from the New York State Department of Health to work on community and worksite interventions.
Purpose of Creating Healthy Places:
The purpose of this initiative is to implement strategies to create policy, systems and environmental changes that will lead to the following outcomes, among the target population:
- Increase physical activity and reduce sedentary behavior among the target population.
- Increase access to and consumption of healthy foods and reduce access to and consumption of foods with minimal nutritional value.
Creating Healthy Places: Intended Community Outcomes:
- Increase availability of places to be physically active
- Plan for community roadways that are safe and accessible for physical activity
- Increase availability of fresh fruits and vegetables
- Increase the nutrition value of foods offered for sale
Creating Healthy Places: Community Component Overview:
The RCDOH will partner with the Villages of Haverstraw, Spring Valley, West Haverstraw and the Greater Monsey Orthodox Jewish Community to implement the following strategies:
- Establish joint-use agreements that allow use of public schools and facilities for recreation by the public during non-school hours.
- Create, rehabilitate, maintain and promote parks and recreation facilities to offer safe, accessible and attractive opportunities for physical activity for persons of all ages and abilities.
- Improve street-scale design to promote physical activity: improved street lighting, safe street crossing, use of traffic calming approaches, or enhanced landscaping.
- Develop transportation policies and environmental changes to ensure streets are safe, accessible and convenient for all users of the roadway including: pedestrians, bicyclists, users of public transit, motorists, children, the elderly, and people with disabilities.
- Create community gardens.
- Establish and promote the use of farmers’ markets and/or implement innovative strategies to increase access to healthy foods in high need areas.
- Establish and promote the use of grocery stores in high needs areas.
- Improve quality of food at grocery stores, convenience stores/bodegas and small stores.
- Work with restaurants to add healthier menu items, reformulate existing items, offer affordable and appropriately sized portions, offer healthier children’s meals, or publicize nutrition information of menu items.
- Implement the Nutrition And Physical Activity Self-Assessment in Child Care (NAP SACC) program at twenty day care facilities.
Worksite Wellness Component:
To implement comprehensive worksite wellness strategies in 20 small to medium size worksites (50-1,000 employees) in Rockland County. The Rockland County Health Department will develop a network of partnerships to offer wellness services, provide training and technical assistance to employers, and offer financial support for implementing strategies.
Worksite Wellness Strategies:
- Subsidize gym memberships or create on-site physical activity facilities or programs
- Adopt policies to ensure the cafeteria, meetings, and vending machines offer healthy items
- Establish on-site farmers’ markers or community supported agriculture
- Promote stair use by increasing access to clean, safe stairwells
- Increase policies that allow flex time in order to fit physical activity into workdays
- Increase voluntary biometric testing with referrals to primary care provider
- Facilitate weight management programs
- Facilitate smoking cessation programs
- Increase workplace lactation support
- Incentives and supports for walking, biking or taking public transportation to work
- Ensure preventive health services are part of health insurance coverage: tobacco cessation counseling, nicotine replacement therapy, and obesity counseling
- Incentives for employee participation in Health Risk Assessments and provide follow-up, education, and referrals as needed
- Increase health coaching to improve skills and guide employees to a healthier life
- Incentives for reducing risk behaviors or for achieving certain standards: being tobacco/smoke-free for six months or having blood pressure below a certain level
For worksite wellness program and services click here.
