Apply for the Designation

Submit a letter from your mayor and city council demonstrating your community’s commitment to improving health. Customize the letter to highlight your community’s accomplishments and priorities, and include the appropriate leadership signature. If a community does not have a mayor or city council, it may be signed by equivalent leadership.

Click below for an example template:

Letter Template

Form a coalition of community partners, or identify an existing group, to guide your designation efforts and support ongoing community health initiatives. Coalitions must have at least four members, meet at least quarterly, and hold at least one meeting before the initial application is submitted.

For best outcomes, we encourage communities to exceed the minimum requirements and to include members from underrepresented populations. Representation from the following sectors should be considered:

• • City leadership
  • Local health department
  • Local hospital
  • Local school district
  • Business leaders
  • Community health workers
  • Community members, etc.

In the application, provide coalition member contact information and the most recent meeting agenda, minutes, or a meeting summary.

Complete the Healthy Community Scorecard and data questions to understand current community conditions, identify strengths and needs, and establish a baseline for measuring progress over time. The scorecard covers Active Living, Healthy Food Access, and Mental Wellbeing. It is a planning tool, not a way to compare cities or towns.

Use the best available local data and community input, including sources such as the Utah Healthy Places Index, Utah IBIS, the USU Wellbeing Survey, or local assessments. First-time applicants complete the BASELINE column only; communities applying for redesignation update the CURRENT column.

Use the results and community feedback to identify your community’s greatest health needs and populations experiencing poorer health outcomes.

Healthy Community Scorecard Metrics 

Identify strategies that are already fully implemented in your community. Proposed or partially completed activities do not count toward this requirement. Strategies must address Active Living, Healthy Food Access, and Mental Wellbeing; the number required depends on population:

• Small Communities (0–9,999): 1 strategy in each category (3 total)
• Mid-Sized Communities (10,000–64,999): 2 strategies in each category (6 total)
• Large Communities (65,000+): 3 strategies in each category (9 total)

For each strategy, the application asks what was implemented, when, who participated or benefited, and what results or related scorecard measures help demonstrate impact. Communities may use recommended strategies, menu-of-services programs, or locally developed approaches.

Click below to see a list of recommended health strategies:

Recommended Strategies

Communities may also use their own unique strategies, or implement a program from the following menu services:

Menu of Services 

Use your Healthy Community Scorecard and community input to identify priority health needs and select new or expanded strategies to carry out over the next three years. Your plan should explain why each strategy was selected and what you hope to accomplish. The number needed depends on the size of the community:

• Small Communities (0–9,999): Implement one additional strategy every three years (one total)
• Mid-Sized Communities (10,000–64,999): Implement two additional strategies every three years (two total)
• Large Communities (65,000+): Implement three additional strategies every three years (three total)

These planned strategies may come from any of the three focus areas (Active Living, Access to Healthy Food, Mental Health). The designation lasts three years; to earn redesignation, communities must carry out their plan and demonstrate progress.