Making improvements in social and economic factors leads to improved health in low-income communities

Improvements in social and economic factors, as well as the physical environment, are reshaping the City of Fall River, Massachusetts, a predominantly low-income community, into a healthier city. Partners for a Healthier Community, Inc., a coalition composed of residents and public and private organizations, used multiple data sources that describe the population, education, health status and economic demographics of the City, to formulate plans to address: 1) Safety and Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drug Control, 2) Recreation & Fitness, 3) Food Supply and Nutrition, 4) Educational, Worksite and Medical Practices, and 5) Physical Environment and Advocacy. Over a five-year period of time, task forces focused on substance abuse, youth violence and community health oversaw the implementation and monitoring of strategies designed to reduce risk and promote positive behaviors. Using a variety of programmatic and policy changes, the overall smoking rate was reduced by 14% and the rate of youth violence by 37%. Substantial improvements were also made in school nutrition and the City's food supply, and opportunities for physical activity were increased both through low-cost programs and structural changes in the environment. Youth spearheaded a successful effort to ban tobacco products from all City pharmacies, and access to healthcare was substantially improved through the construction of a state-of-the-art, multi-vendor health care center in the heart of the City's poorest neighborhood. Construction will begin in the summer of 2013 on a walking and bicycle rail path highlighting a once abandoned river that flows through the center of the City.