Active Environments

Finally, America’s Health Rankings ranks Tennessee 41st in the nation for risk of social isolation among older adults, highlighting a great need for greater access to social opportunities.  

Here's how addressing the built environment as a Social Driver of Health might improve these statistics: 

Active Environments Promote Physical Activity: Active environments are places designed to get people moving. Think of parks, walking trails, bike lanes, and even sidewalks. These spaces make it easier for everyone to incorporate physical activity into their daily lives. When people are active, they're less likely to deal with health issues like obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. 

Social Infrastructure Builds Strong Communities: Social infrastructure refers to public places that bring people together. This can be anything from schools and libraries to community centers. These places offer more than just services; they provide spaces where people can interact, support each other, and build a sense of belonging. This is crucial for mental health and overall well-being. 

Safety and Accessibility: Good active environments and social infrastructure are also safe and easy to access. Safe, well-lit paths and low-traffic streets encourage people to walk, bike, or take public transport. This boosts physical activity levels while also making people feel more connected to their community. 

Better Food Choices: Well-designed communities often have better access to healthy food options like grocery stores and farmers' markets. This contrasts with neighborhoods with limited options, where fast food or convenience stores might be the only choices. 

Combined Benefits: When active environments are paired with strong social infrastructure, the benefits multiply. For example, a park (active environment) near a community center (social infrastructure) can host group exercise classes, farmers' markets, or community events. This not only promotes physical activity but also offers a social space for community interaction, enhancing both physical and mental well-being. 

Unfortunately, many people in Tennessee live in neighborhoods that lack access to opportunities to walk or bike, access to healthy food options, or safe spaces to socialize. This leads to health disparities in certain populations. 

Rural Communities

Rural communities frequently experience disparities in access to active environments, as they often have fewer recreational facilities and face geographic challenges that can limit opportunities for physical activity. 

Food Insecure Communities

 Food insecurity occurs when households have limited or uncertain access to nutritious foods because of money, transportation, or other resource constraints. Tennessee is one of 12 states with a food insecurity rate higher than the national average by a statistically significant amount for all households (TN 16.9% vs United States 13.4%). Lacking constant access to food has been consistently associated with poor health outcomes such as, obesity, diabetes, and premature mortality. 

Individuals with Disabilities

Children and adults with mobility limitations and intellectual or learning disabilities are at greatest risk for obesity. People with disabilities find it more difficult to always eat healthy, control their weight, and be physically active.  

Activities and Programs: Evidence-informed, actionable, short-term steps that collaborative groups can take to address priority areas.

Policy and Systems Change: Systems change refers to how organizations or programs — such as school systems or health systems — are connected and work together to improve conditions to make change that lasts. This section contains evidence-informed, actionable, long-term steps that collaborative groups can take to address priority areas.

McMinn Health Council Move with the Mayor:

The McMinn County Health Council is an organized, active health council with over 20 regular community partners as members. In 2022, the health council added “Move with the Mayor” and a community walking trail as Active Living goals in their CHA/CHIP. “Move with the Mayor” is a national program that works with mayors across the country to encourage physical activity in their communities. The program is free for participating communities and supports communities with marketing materials and plans to implement a community activity challenge in collaboration with the Mayor. The city of Athens community implemented “Move with the Mayor” in 2022 and challenged participants to log walking miles all summer. Over 220 participants logged over 6,600 walking miles!  

Also during this time, the Health Council, Health Department, and City of Athens collaborated to create a community walking trail spanning 5.6 miles from Athens to a neighboring town. While the community was originally skeptical about the walking trail, it has been a huge success. Community members flock to the trail and rave about how it has helped their community to be healthier.  The health council and health department also partnered to write "Pedestrian Billboards" displaying health tips along the route.  

Because of the success of these initiatives, the health council is invited to provide a quarterly “Health of the County” report and presentation at the County Commission and City Council meetings. These reports have helped the county government to be more actively engaged with the health council to continue strides that would improve health. The county mayor attends health council meetings and tries to never miss a meeting. The partnership between the McMinn health council and the city on this topic has led to collaboration that improves the opportunities for health in the McMinn community.