Get Healthy Utah News and Blog

Key Takeaways:

• Generally, there is a strong correlation between social connection and positive health outcomes
• Social connections may be protective against heart disease–related deaths
• Social connections increase self-management of diabetes
• Communities can improve social connection for residents through improving the built environment, particularly through increasing green spaces

Eliza Prickett is a Master’s student in Public Health at Brigham Young University. As part of her program, she prepared a literature review on the effects social connectedness has on health outcomes. A portion of her review is included below. The literature review in its entirety can be viewed here.

Human beings thrive with social connections, and this connection impacts those in the community. Social connection is “the size and diversity of one's social network and roles, the functions these relationships serve, and their positive or negative qualities,” according to the CDC (CDC, 2024).  Lack of social connection is “associated with chronic physical symptoms, frailty, coronary heart disease, malnutrition, hospital readmission, reduced vaccine uptake, early mortality, depression, social anxiety, psychosis, cognitive impairment in later life, and suicidal ideation” (Morina et al., 2021).  Increasing social connection helps the individual and compounds itself, growing with each connection until the entire community is positively impacted.

An emerging way to increase social connection, especially in urban environments, is to include greenspace and Public Open Spaces (POS) in urban planning. Social isolation, loneliness, and social belonging are all impacted by the built environment (Reed & Bohr, 2020). Maintaining these built environments is essential for maintaining social connections, as there is a direct influence on the upkeep of a social environment and mental health connections (Leyden et al., 2011; Sullivan & Chang, 2011). These built environments can create spaces for social connections to flourish. Making these social environments green, whether through flowers and trees or just having grass, can add to the social benefit these spaces create for communities in Utah. As new communities continue to grow and develop in Utah, providing ways to increase social connection has many long-term benefits for mental and emotional health and overall physical health.

CDC. (2024, May 16). Social Connection. Social Connection. https://cdc.gov/social-connectedness/about/index.html

Morina, N., Kip, A., Hoppen, T. H., Priebe, S., & Meyer, T. (2021). Potential impact of physical distancing on physical and mental health: a rapid narrative umbrella review of meta-analyses on the link between social connection and health. BMJ Open, 11(3), e042335. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2020-042335

Reed, S., & Bohr, J. (2020). The Influence of Local Built Environments on Social Wellbeing: a Community’s Experience with Social Isolation, Social Loneliness, and Social Belonging. International Journal of Community Well-Being. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42413-020-00091-6

Leyden, K. M., Goldberg, A., & Duval, R. D. (2011). The built environment, maintenance of the public sphere and connections to others and to place: an examination of 10 international cities. Journal of Urbanism: International Research on Placemaking and Urban Sustainability, 4(1), 25–38. https://doi.org/10.1080/17549175.2011.559946

Sullivan, W. C., & Chang, C.-Y. (2011). Mental Health and the Built Environment. Making Healthy Places, 106–116. https://doi.org/10.5822/978-1-61091-036-1_7

Get Healthy Utah worked with the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute to learn more about city and town leaders’ attitudes and strategies regarding the Healthy Utah Community Designation and community health. 139 leaders from 75 Utah cities and towns responded. 

Here are some of the key takeaways:

• Many city and town leaders are interested in earning the Healthy Utah Community Designation! If you’re one, check out our website to learn more about what your community needs to do to qualify.
• The Healthy Utah Community Designation has a positive, useful impact.

• Health is a high priority for community leaders across the state. Compared to our 2020 survey, more respondents now believe that municipal governments have a role in community health.
• The Healthy Utah Community Designation focus areas (Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Mental Health) have different levels of prioritization:
  • In Nutrition, many leaders have neutral sentiments about action items, with a notable portion lacking plans for implementation. 
  • Physical Activity sees a strong commitment to both actions and their implementation. 
  • Mental Health is a critical issue across the state, and leaders want to enhance mental health resources.
• The most significant barrier communities face in implementing strategies is funding.

Thank you to everyone who participated in the survey! We appreciate your help, and we look forward to using these insights to continue improving our resources and the Healthy Utah Community designation. You can view the whole report on our website.

This fall, Get Healthy Utah partnered with Move Utah and Bike Utah to host the first-ever Connected Communities Summit! The summit, which was held September 18-19, 2024 at the Utah Valley Convention Center in Provo, combined each organization's annual event and educated participants on the theme "Building an Active, Healthy Utah." The summit pulled together diverse professionals such as policymakers, elected leaders, transportation and city planners, and public health experts--all people dedicated to the health and wellbeing of Utah's communities. 

Keynote Speakers

The summit featured a plenary panel and two keynote speakers--Chris Danley and Mark Fenton--who are experts on walkability and healthy community design.

On day one of the summit, Chris Danley, founder of Vitruvian Planning, spoke on "Second-Hand Cities: What They Are and How to Win Them Back." He made the case that just like second-hand smoke can have negative effects on health and longevity, so can poorly designed cities with insufficient active transportation infrastructure. He challenged current cultural norms like large parking lots, unsafe sidewalks and bike lanes, and disconnected neighborhoods and called for a shift in community planning and design. To view Chris's presentation slides, click HERE.

Mark Fenton, one of the nation's leading walkability experts, spoke on day two of the summit. He addressed the topic "Pilots-to-Policy: An Approach to Build More Connected Communities." He acknowledged that many communities want to build safer, more active infrastructure but often feel constrained by a lack of funding. He shared examples of communities around the nation using a pilots-to-policy approach to overcome funding limitations. With this approach, a community pilots a small, inexpensive, and temporary solution to improve pedestrian safety, gathers data about its effectiveness, then uses that data to justify and secure additional funding. To view Mark's slide deck, click HERE.

The summit also featured a plenary panel on building healthy Utah communities featuring four local experts:

• Dirk Burton, Mayor of West Jordan
• Catherine Van Tassell, Director of Behavioral Health Consulting at GBS Benefits
• Stephanie Tomlin, Trails Division Director at UDOT
• Nick Duerksen, Land Development Director of The Point

The panel was moderated by Nick Jarvis, Chief Operating Officer of the Utah League of Cities and Towns. The session featured a Q&A, project updates, and practical advice on how to build healthier, more connected communities throughout the state of Utah.

Breakout Sessions

Throughout the summit, participants had the option to choose breakout sessions from the following three tracks:

• Active Communities: How to build communities that encourage physical activity and active transportation
• Healthy Communities: How to build communities to address the health needs of residents
• Connected Communities: How to build communities that promote strong social connection and easy navigation

In addition, participants could choose to attend an innovative workshop track titled Building Communities. During the workshops, local communities in Utah presented on real-world challenges, such as slowing down traffic on rural main streets or promoting social connection among senior populations in cold winter months. The participants were then divided into roundtables to discuss the challenges, combine their expertise, and offer practical solutions.

To view the breakout session agenda, click HERE.

To view the slide decks for each presentation, click HERE.

Active Transportation Tours

Perhaps one of the most exciting parts of the summit was the opportunity to sign up and participate in active transportation tours. Eight different tours were offered over the course of the two-day conference, ranging from a downtown Provo scooter tour, to a Utah Valley Express bus tour, to a tour featuring adaptive equipment. Every participant was offered water, a snack, and an expert guide for the experience.

Get Healthy Utah Celebration

On the last day of the conference, Get Healthy Utah held a special luncheon to celebrate its ten-year anniversary! First organized by Former Lt . Governor Greg Bell, Get Healthy Utah has spent the last decade working hard to promote a healthier and more connected state. During the luncheon, Get Healthy Utah's Executive Director, Alysia Ducuara, presented on the organization's achievements and shared a celebratory video. Chet Loftis, Board Chair of Get Healthy Utah, followed her remarks with a report on Get Healthy Utah's future direction. Last, Former Governor Gary Herbert spoke to the importance of building a healthier Utah and presented Greg Bell with the Champion of Health Award, acknowledging his groundbreaking work to found Get Healthy Utah and his career-long dedication to promoting a healthier and more livable state for all.

Conclusion

The Connected Communities Summit was an innovative effort to pull together community leaders from diverse sectors and rally around the shared vision of building a healthier, more connected Utah. We are pleased to share that with over 400 attendees and two days of cutting-edge presentations, it was a great success! We would like to offer a heartfelt thank you to our partners, Move Utah and Bike Utah, for helping to make this one-of-a-kind event a reality.

Implementing a Milers Morning Program in Schools

Written by Susanne Creer, Physical Education Specialist at Terra Linda Elementary School

Milers is a voluntary morning before school walk/jog program that we did in Nevada at my children’s elementary school. This can be implemented by a teacher or the parent volunteers. When I was co-chair of this program I was a parent not a PE teacher. Another school near us also had a milers program and was run by the PE teacher with help from parents. The way we did it 10 years ago was a lot more work with paper cards and volunteers punching cards foreach lap but I have discovered a much easier way to do this program that doesn’t require nearly as much support using the technology of the EZ scan app https://ezmileageclub.com/. It is very inexpensive. This program could also be used by teachers during the day for brain breaks, students who want to run/walk laps at lunch or recess, or special events.

The students earn rewards for each 10 miles they walk or jog or whatever mile or lap increment you set up. A bigger goal could be earning a 100 miles or laps and a special reward set up for that such as a special t-shirt, medal, or trophy. The purpose of this program is to get kids moving before school and to help instill a love for physical activity and lifetime wellness. The benefits are obvious cardiovascular improvement but it also helps with social and emotional learning, mental health, goal setting, and determination. The most compelling and powerful benefit of all is that regular physical activity has been shown through many scientific studies to provide enormous cognitive benefits increasing brain function and academic achievement especially in children https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5934999/.

What also makes this morning program special is that parents, grandparents, other caretakers, and school staff can also participate. This helps to build relationships between parents and students and school staff.

How do you get a program started?

1. Choose a time that a PE teacher or parents/pta can supervise. At my school we are looking at 8:15 - 8:45 am with school starting at 9:00. Because I am new to the school we are waiting until the Spring to start our program but ideally in Utah you would want to get this program started as soon as possible in the school year.

2. Set up a course to run laps in the grass area of your school or wherever you can mark off cones for laps. Use a meter wheel to determine your mile distance which may consist of several laps to equal one mile.

3. Use the EZ scan app https://ezmileageclub.com/ with scan cards for each student participating. We are going to get lanyards with the badge slot to put the cards in so students can wear them while they run and use them year after year. The EZ scan app can be set up on an ipad sitting on a table where the students scan their card with each lap they complete. One parent or teacher ideally would be there to make sure they complete the lap but it would not be required.

4. The EZ scan will track the mileage/laps completed by up to 1500 participants so a teacher/parent can keep track of students who meet each level. 10 miles, 20 miles etc. We did ribbons in Nevada and would give it to their school teacher to present in class. It could also be a paper award or some other designated prize. Parents/PTA can help with this if they are willing to.

5. We also would have a wall in the school where each student will have a paper shoe that they color at the beginning of the year and has their name on it. As they complete each10 miles they will move down the track which will be on a wall for recognition. This is fun for the kids to see their progress.

6. When students meet a big goal that your school determines is the pinnacle you can have a special shirt made. At our school in Nevada we had students design the 100 mile t-shirt and then the kids voted on their favorite design. Each year this was a new t-shirt. Only the kids who complete 100 miles were able to get one. We also had lots of parents there to ring bells, cheer and have posters when they completed the big goal. We have also done trophies for 100 miles. The bigger award we liked to make a big deal about at school award assemblies but also on the field when it happens. Parents would be there and other teachers etc. to celebrate with them.

7. Use music outside while the kids run/walk. It creates a fun atmosphere. You can do it all the time or just on Fridays to make it more special.

8. We have done a large banner outside on the fence for Milers that had all of the sponsors for our program on the banner including parents as well as businesses that we used for prizes and other supplies. The banner itself was also donated by a business.

9. Reminder that this program could also be done during lunch recess or brain breaks or special events.

10. In Utah the mileage could possible be taken indoors into the gym before school. If that is not an option then students could do it in the first couple months of school and the last couple months of school if weather does not agree with being outside. I'm new to Utah, so we will see how that goes. Also the goals can be adjusted if there is less time to walk/jog outdoors to maybe 50 miles being the big goal.

Program Pictures