December 2021 - Parks & Recreation - 22

HEALTH & WELLNESS
To determine what " healthy " means for our
communities, we must ask our community
members.
Connecting the Dots to Health
By Jo Burns, MS, CTRS
H
ow do you effect the health of your community every day?
As park and recreation professionals, your daily interactions,
programs, special events, parks, trails and open spaces improve
the health of community members in numerous ways.
We know healthcare in the United
States is a conundrum. We a have a
plethora of resources and an inability
to get them to everyone. We have
skyrocketing costs. Our system tends
to be insurance driven versus person
centered. We are spending billions
on treating preventable chronic diseases,
and, we tend to be reactive
with our health solutions. It's time
to change that, and parks and recreation
is primed to be that catalyst.
Start by looking at how you and
your organization define health.
Think beyond the World Health
Organization's definition of " a state
of complete physical, mental and
social well-being and not merely the
22 Parks & Recreation | DECEMBER 2 0 2 1
absence of disease. " Really get down
to what it looks like to have health in
your life and in your organization.
What are the tangible components
that contribute to the seven realms
of health (physical, social, emotional,
mental, spiritual, environmental
and economic)? Do you value activity,
healthy food, clean water, green
spaces close to home, being welcomed
into community centers, feeling
a sense of belonging and having a
friend to confide in?
Think about who should have
access to your wonderful definition
of health. I bet you thought " everyone. "
This is tricky though. Everyone
should have access to their
| PARK S ANDRECRE AT ION . OR G
definition of health - not something
pre-defined by you or your
organization. This is where we have
a great opportunity to connect with
our community members about
their health - all realms of it. It's
also a place where we can connect
to promote health equity in our
communities. We must make " efforts
to ensure that all people have
full and equal access to opportunities
that enable them to lead healthy
lives " (tinyurl.com/yude6keu).
Simply stated, whatever " healthy "
looks like to your community members,
we can't know until we ask.
Park and recreation folks have
more opportunity to ask because
we're on the frontlines of interacting
with our community members. While
the average person visits their physician
approximately four times a year
(tinyurl.com/zyvj5925), they visit

http://www.tinyurl.com/yude6keu http://www.tinyurl.com/zyvj5925

December 2021 - Parks & Recreation

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of December 2021 - Parks & Recreation

December 2021 - Parks & Recreation - Intro
December 2021 - Parks & Recreation - Cover1
December 2021 - Parks & Recreation - Cover2
December 2021 - Parks & Recreation - 1
December 2021 - Parks & Recreation - 2
December 2021 - Parks & Recreation - 3
December 2021 - Parks & Recreation - 4
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December 2021 - Parks & Recreation - 18
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December 2021 - Parks & Recreation - 55
December 2021 - Parks & Recreation - 56
December 2021 - Parks & Recreation - Cover3
December 2021 - Parks & Recreation - Cover4
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/april-2024
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/march-2024
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/february-2024
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/january-2024
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/december-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/november-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/october-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/september-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/august-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/july-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/june-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/may-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/april-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/march-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/february-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/january-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/december-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/november-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/october-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/september-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/august-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/july-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/june-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/may-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/april-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/march-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/february-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/january-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/december-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/november-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/october-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/september-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/august-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/july-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/june-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/may-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/april-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/march-2021
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