Building Healthy Environments with the Community Healthy Living Index Tool

Issue: Several communities outside of the Birmingham City limits lack access to grocery stores, park and recreational facilities, and bike and walking routes. One of these neighborhoods in particular, Robinwood, has some additional safety and community cohesion issues due to the community design: the Robinwood neighborhood covers two separate jurisdictions. Therefore, next door neighborhood could be subject to different protocols for trash removal, police protection, fire department services, etc.

Description:In order to engage the Robinwood neighborhood, and help residents help themselves, the Jefferson County Department of Health decided to employ the Community Healthy Living Index (CHLI), an assessment and planning process tool developed by YMCA of America as well as experts from Stanford, Harvard and St. Louis University. With CHLI, residents assess themselves and generate improvement ideas and plans tailored to their specific neighborhood's environment and current resource level.

Lessons Learned: After completing the CHLI tool, Robinwood residents established a formal Neighborhood Association to implement the improvement ideas generated, as well as, to represent the communities concerns at the local government level. CHLI aided in the galvanization of neighborhood leadership, and strategic planning towards a healthier neighborhood.

Recommendations: In disenfranchised communities, the CHLI tool can be employed to induce community collaboration and commitment towards implementing action steps for improving the neighborhood quality of life. The CHLI tool not only identifies factors that support or hinder a healthy community environment, but empowers community residents to decide, organize, plan, and implement policy, system, and environmental changes that support community health.