Healthy Community Requirements

To qualify for the designation, a community must submit a letter of commitment from the mayor and city council. The letter should be customized to best express the community's unique commitment to promoting community health, and it should be signed by the mayor and chair of the council. 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

Establish a coalition of diverse stakeholders (or identify a health coalition that already exists) to oversee earning and maintaining the Healthy Utah Community designation. The coalition will ensure that the community qualifies, completes the application, develops the community health plan, and will oversee the plan's implementation. 

Coalitions can be diverse, but to qualify for the designation it must consist of a minimum of four individuals that meet together quarterly. 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.

Click below for an example template:

Coalition Template

Communities must implement health strategies across three different categories: Active Living, Access to Healthy Food, and Mental Health. The total number of health strategies that a community must implement depends on population size:

• Small Community (Population: 0 - 9,999): Implement one strategy from each category (3 total)

• Mid-Sized Community (Population: 10,000 - 64,999): Implement two strategies from each category (6 total)

• Large Community (Population: 65,000+): Implement three strategies from each category (9 total)

Click below to see a list of recommended health strategies:

Recommended Strategies

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

Menu of Services 

The Healthy Utah Community designation lasts for three years. Redesignation will be awarded to communities that develop and fulfill a 3-year community health plan. The health plan will require looking at data to understand the health needs of your community and choosing additional health strategies to implement over a 3-year period.

Additional strategies can come from any of the three categories (Active Living, Access to Healthy Food, Mental Health). The number needed depends on the size of the community:

Small Communities: Implement one additional strategy every three years (one total)
Mid-Sized Communities: Implement two additional strategies every three years (two total)
Large Communities: Implement three additional strategies every three years (three total)

Click below for a community health plan template:

Health Plan Template