Posts Tagged ‘Cultural Wellness Center’
The Backyard Commission on Health: Commissioner”'s Report on Accomplishments
By Janice Barbee, Cultural Wellness Center Three years ago, Allina began the Backyard Initiative as an investment in the community”'s power to improve its own health in partnership with the resources of the health care system. Allina has shown its commitment to the community engagement process as a strategy for strengthening the capacity for residents to care for themselves and each other. Over 300 people have become active owners of the Initiative. The Backyard Initiative is a partnership between Allina Health Systems and the residents of the area around Allina Headquarters ”“ included the neighborhoods of Phillips Community, Corcoran, Central, and Powderhorn Park. Also included in the partnership are the Cultural Wellness Center, which facilitates, organizes, and supports community residents to work together on health improvement; Hope Community, which is hosting dialogue among organizations in the community and exploring ways for organizations to support and [...]
Focus on Mental Health in the Backyard
By Janice Barbee, Cultural Wellness Center Community residents participating in the Backyard Initiative have identified “mental health” as one focus for their work to improve the health of all residents. At their past few monthly meetings, members of the Community Commission on Health and Citizen Health Action Teams (CHATs) of the Backyard Initiative (BYI) have been discussing which health condition all the CHATs would work on together. Community members have named many different aspects of mental health, such as stress, depression, and chemical dependency as having a significant impact on overall health. In the community health assessment conducted in 2009, the top health conditions that residents reported experiencing in the last five years were stress (51%), depression (21%), and high blood pressure (21%). The BYI is a partnership between Allina Health Systems and the community surrounding Allina headquarters (the four neighborhoods of Phillips, Central, [...]
Update on the Backyard Initiative: BYI Citizen Health Action Teams Update
By Janice Barbee, Cultural Wellness Center Every month at the Cultural Wellness Center, members from the Backyard Initiative Citizen Health Action Teams, or CHATs, come together to update each other on their activities and talk about common principles and problems in their community building work. Last month, on February 17, CHAT members discussed what it takes to work together and accomplish what they set out to do. The Backyard Initiative was started two years ago as a community partnership between Allina Hospitals and Clinics and the residents of Phillips, Powderhorn Park, Central, and Corcoran with the goal of improving the health of the community. Most of the work of the Backyard Initiative is carried out within Citizen Health Action Teams, where community members on each team have developed a strategy for improving health and are now in the process of implementing that strategy. CHAT Leadership in the Community Elder Atum Azzahir from the Cultural Wellness Center, [...]
