Sign up for action alerts
News & Events
May /09/2012
May /02/2012
Apr /10/2012
The Boston Globe- City signs on to help bridge gaps to healthier neighborhoods
September 17, 2010
By Stephen Smith
In Boston, it is a time of the signs.
On three dozen roadway billboards and almost a score of T placards, some of the most defining digits in our lives — ZIP codes — started sprouting this week. The message, scheduled to be formally unveiled today, is subtle but powerful: Where you live matters when it comes to health.
The $150,000 campaign from the Boston Public Health Commission, which includes an animated neighborhood-by-neighborhood website, is a response to research that shows gaping disparities in the health status of Bostonians. Researchers such as Nancy Krieger of the Harvard School of Public Health have found, for example, that residents of the city’s poorest neighborhoods are significantly more likely to die prematurely than those in the wealthiest.
“Looking at how people in their neighborhoods are affected by their living conditions and their working conditions is really important, because it counters the all-too-common view that health is just a personal matter or health just reflects your genetics or bad habits,’’ said Krieger, who isn’t involved with the campaign.
Instead, campaign creators hope to spur communities to action, to spark conversations about, say, opening a farmer’s market or starting exercise clubs.
“I want somebody who’s impacted by this campaign to be the person who’s at a cocktail party or at a barbecue or around the watercooler who challenges the person next to them who says health is an individual thing,’’ said Nashira Baril, codirector of the city’s Center for Health Equity and Social Justice. “I want the person touched by the campaign to say it’s much more than that.’’
The website, located at whatsyourhealthcode.com, offers a novel tour of 15 Boston neighborhoods. Click on Charlestown and fly across the city’s urban landscape until arriving at 02129. Click again and learn about the ties that bind Charlestown and about how neighborhood unity enhances health.
Click on Mattapan — 02126 — and discover that neighborhood has the state’s highest obesity rate, the city’s highest diabetes rate, both reflecting a lack of access to healthy food. But it holds a message of promise, too: Mattapan has a farmer’s market, and residents are championing better food choices in corner stores.
“It’s important for people to know these are not the bad conditions, and we’re just stuck living here,’’ said Barbara Ferrer, executive director of the Boston Public Health Commission. “All of us — residents, nonprofits — can come together and say, ‘What does it take to build a healthier neighborhood?’ ’’
In the past five years, Boston’s landmark teaching hospitals and city agencies have made bridging the health care gap a priority. Mayor Thomas M. Menino in 2005 declared health disparities the most pressing medical issue confronting Boston.
The city has committed millions of dollars to the cause, with funds given to hospitals so that they can glean detailed information about the race and ethnicity of patients and look for inequities in care. Despite those efforts, the health divide among neighborhoods remains broad.
The city’s Health of Boston report released earlier this year showed that African-American infants are four times more likely to die before they can celebrate a birthday than white babies. And black and Hispanic children with asthma are four times more likely to spend time in the hospital than white youngsters.
When the city was embarking on the new campaign, focus groups were convened to tap into residents’ attitudes. When asked initially about the health of individuals, the groups talked about the need for the overweight to exercise more, Baril said.
“But when we asked, ‘What do you think impacts a community’s health?’ we got very different answers,’’ she said. “That’s when they told us to build parks and take other steps to make the whole community healthier.’’
To read "City signs on to help bridge gaps to healthier neighborhoods" click here.
FAIR USE NOTICE
This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is available without profit for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
Give
Corporate Accountability -give, action, about Resources - media center, store, publications Campaigns - water, food, tobacco, hall of shame Network - news, blog
, Sign Up!
Tweet
Tweet
