Wisconsin Healthy Communities Designation

1. To recognize local communities’ efforts to improve health in multiple areas such as health behaviors, clinical care, social & economic factors, and physical environment.
2. To encourage communities to conceptualize health improvement in this broad way, structuring their health improvement efforts accordingly.
3. To promote cooperation across multiple sectors, including economic development and health improvement.

The Healthy Communities Designation program had a tiered designation approach (i.e., gold, silver, and bronze level designations) intended to allow for the acknowledgment of communities early on in their broad health improvement efforts, as well as of those communities with more advanced, comprehensive, and long-lasting efforts.

In order to earn a designation, communities demonstrated that they followed the guiding principles below. The guiding principles reflected the criteria from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Culture of Health Prize and were modified for this designation program. The two programs were not related.

1. Defining health broadly to engage in efforts to address locally identified health needs (ideally those identified in community health needs assessments conducted by the local health department and/or local hospitals). This includes the following:
   • Identifying needs/initiatives in more than one of the following health categories: health behaviors, clinical care, social & economic factors, and physical environment.
   • Considering the potential reach and impact of initiatives (e.g., initiatives could either be targeted to specific subgroups or the entire population). More targeted initiatives should be expected to achieve greater health improvements.
2. Committing to sustainable and comprehensive long-term solutions. This includes implementing policy, systems, and environment change that worked toward sustainable and long-term solutions.
3. Creating conditions that give everyone a fair and just opportunity to reach their best possible health. Applicants should demonstrate their commitment to advancing health equity by creating conditions where all residents have the opportunity to be healthy.
4. Harnessing the collective power of leaders, partners, and community members. Applicants should demonstrate how residents, government, business, and non-profit organizations are working together to improve health.
5. Securing and making the most of available resources including dollars, people power, etc.
6. Measuring and sharing progress and results.

Each tier (gold, silver, bronze) had different requirements for each of the guiding principles.

Download designation criteria

Supporting Organizations

The following statewide groups shared in a commitment to improving the health and well-being of Wisconsin communities and support this program:

• Advancing a Healthier Wisconsin Endowment
• The Alliance
• American Planning Association-WI Chapter
• Forward Community Investments
• League of WI Municipalities
• Rural Wisconsin Health Cooperative
• Sauk County Development Corporation
• Wisconsin Association of Local Health Departments and Boards
• Wisconsin Counties Association
• Wisconsin Division of Public Health, DHS
• Wisconsin Medical Society
• Wisconsin Primary Health Care Association
• Wisconsin Public Health Association

Advisory Team

Ken Carlson, Vice President Planning/Business Development, Sauk Prairie Healthcare

Sheri Johnson, Director, UW Population Health Institute

Tim Size, Executive Director, Rural Wisconsin Health Cooperative, UW Population Health Institute Advisory Board Member