Health & Wellness Planning Toolkit

Benefits of a Health & Wellness Committee

Town Health & Wellness Committees Can:

• Facilitate local governance of a town’s health and wellness
• Promote priority setting at the community level, based on local needs
• Build on local energy to make change, based on the community’s sense of urgency and understanding of the unique conditions

Ways a Committee Can Have a Positive Impact:

• Advocate for new town policies or enhancements to strengthen existing policies
• Collect/analyze local data to inform municipal decision making regarding health impacts
• Increase alignment across sectors to target specific issues of concern in town
• Recruit and organize volunteers to implement projects that improve health and wellness
• Implement town-identified Action Items of Health Chapter in Town Plan

 

Are you interested in forming a Health & Wellness Committee for your town? TRORC and MAPP (Mt. Ascutney Prevention Partnership) have organized a Health & Wellness toolkit to assist you in forming the committee (see “How to Get Started”), policy and project ideas and impact measuring tools (see “Getting to Work”), and resources to support your work (see “Infrastructure and Support”). If you have any questions or would like assistance in these efforts, please contact Sarah Wraight at [email protected].

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How to Get Started

• Pointers on Starting a Committee
• Town Citizen Advisory Groups – Background
• Comparison of Models
• To 501(c)3 or not to 501(c)3?
• Engaging Stakeholders

 

Getting to Work

Policy Resources

• Supporting Healthy Communities – What Can Towns Do
• Town Plan Health Chapter Template
• Sample Health Promoting Language in Town Plans
• Health Impact Assessment and Health in All Policies
• Health Impact Assessment Example – Spokane
• Health in All Policies – A Guide for State and Local Governments
• Town Smokefree Policy Template
• Vermont School Wellness Policy – Guidelines and Implementation
• Model Policy for Idling of Vehicles

Project Ideas

• Project Idea Links for Town Health and Wellness Committees
• Windham Hunger Council Healthy Food Donations Guide
• Vermont Healthy Community Design Resource – Examples for Creating Healthy Communities

Measurement & Evaluation 

• Community Health Assessment and Group Evaluation
• Measuring Health Outcomes Evaluation Tools

 

Resources

Support exists within many existing agencies that are able to provide resources, including:

• Two Rivers-Ottauquechee Regional Commission: Health in planning resources to incorporate healthy community design principles (mixed-land use, public transit, pedestrian and bicycle-friendly communities, accessible and socially equitable communities, housing for different incomes and different stages of life, green spaces and parks, safe public places for social interaction, fresh and healthy food outlets)
• Mt. Ascutney Prevention Partnership: Policies to support a healthy environment
• Mt. Ascutney Hospital/Ottauquechee Health Center: Community health department
• Vermont Department of Health: Health impact assessments, data, evaluation to gather local data, evidence-based interventions

 

Thank you to staff at SWCRPC for providing feedback and resources for this toolkit.