Get Healthy Utah News and Blog

Key Takeaways:

• “Green streets” have more plants, soil, and water-friendly systems than traditional streets
• Originally, green streets were designed to capture rainwater locally
• Green streets also benefit physical and mental health, and increase green space in a community without having to build new parks or open spaces
• There is a correlation between areas with less green streets and poor mental health

Leota Coyne

Leota Coyne is a Master’s student in City & Metropolitan Planning at the University of Utah. As part of her program, she prepared a report on how Millcreek could improve the health of some of its more vulnerable residents through changing the built environment. A portion of her report is included below. Other communities can also learn from this case study how they can increase green space in their communities to most benefit their residents.

Mental health and heat-related illness are important health considerations in communities that relate to the greenness of streets. By completing street greening through the EPA model of ‘green streets’, street greening additions provide benefits beyond health such as stormwater management and climate change adaptation (EPA, 2022). Academic research supports that there is a connection between street greening and improved mental health as well as reduced heat-related illness or death. Street greening is a viable opportunity to support positive health outcomes. 

Using this framework, areas in Millcreek with low street vegetation levels, poor mental health, and/or high vulnerability to heat-related illness were identified as spaces where street greening efforts may best influence mental health and reduce heat-related illness.

A vegetation analysis was calculated around roads in Millcreek using the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index. This analysis found that the western portion of Millcreek generally had less vegetation than the eastern portion of the city as of August 2022. Poor mental health indicators from the Utah Healthy Place Index and higher indicators of vulnerability to extreme heat from the Social Vulnerability Index were both concentrated in the western portion of Millcreek. On the other hand, the eastern portion of Millcreek had better mental health and lower social vulnerability in addition to more vegetation around roads. 

Combining the mental health and social vulnerability indicators with the vegetation data shows that western Millcreek could benefit from street greening. Specifically, areas with little vegetation, poor mental health, and vulnerability to heat where street greening efforts may have the greatest impact on health. Other cities can use this model to identify areas where street greening can have a positive impact on the community and improve health outcomes.

Read the full report here.

View a presentation here.

The Utah Foundation recently released a report, Healthy Communities: Advancing Wellness and Safety, focused on policy solutions for Utah communities to increase physical activity. The report is meant to be a guide for city and town leaders who want to learn more about real policies that have been successful in Utah and elsewhere.

This report is the second in a series of reports focusing on how policy changes can improve health in Utah communities. Get Healthy Utah, with the support of a UCAN (Utah Cancer Action Network) grant, partnered with the Utah Foundation to help fund this report on active living, and an upcoming report on access to healthy food, which will be released in July.

Some highlights from the report include:

• City and town leaders have many options to increase physical activity! Some solutions might be expensive, but others are low- to no-cost.
• Utahns want more trails and parks in their communities.
• Physical activity is directly linked to how we build our communities. We can make more walkable and bikeable communities by zoning reform, improving streets, and increasing safety.
• Many Utah communities are already doing great work to get people outside and moving!

To learn more, visit the Utah Foundation’s website, where you can download the report now.

Get Healthy Utah held its annual Advisory Council this May. We want to thank everyone who attended and shared their ideas on how we can improve healthy eating and active living in Utah through system-level changes.

Here were our takeaways:

Key Takeaways:

• Utahns are in a mental health crisis and need the healing and social connection that arts and culture can deliver.
• The arts foster connection, support the healing process, and complement other modalities to improve well-being.
• Current arts projects and initiatives show encouraging results.

Natalie Petersen

Natalie Petersen is the assistant director at the Utah Division of Arts & Museums, a division of the Utah Department of Cultural & Community Engagement. Her passion is strengthening communities through cultural engagement and connecting people with each other, knowledge, and resources to expand opportunities and solve problems. 

Utah’s mental health crisis demonstrates that there is great need for connection and healing in our society. Personal interest, along with work in both the cultural and mental health sectors, has led me on an exploratory journey for solutions, and the rapidly expanding field of arts and healing keeps rising to the top. Arts interventions are increasingly used to support health and well-being, because they work – in contributing to improved healthcare outcomes, strengthened social supports, higher levels of patient and staff satisfaction, lower healthcare costs, and improved quality of life. 

The arts and healing ecosystem is defined by the National Organization for Arts and Health as “…dedicated to using the power of the arts to enhance health and well-being in diverse institutional and community contexts. Comprised of many subfields and affiliated fields, arts in health supports health as defined by the World Health Organization, as a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”

As I was wrapping up this post, an advisory from U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek H. Murthy was released on “Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation,” which reports the negative effects of loneliness on individual and societal health, and proposes a path to building a stronger, healthier, more connected society. 

He emphasizes that “...we have an opportunity, and an obligation, to make the same investments in addressing social connection that we have made in addressing tobacco use, obesity, and the addiction crisis.” Arts and culture can support multiple pillars as outlined in the advisory, such as Strengthening Social Infrastructure in Local Communities, Mobilizing the Health Sector, and Building a Culture of Connection. Project Unlonely through the Foundation for Art and Healing is one example of an organization addressing the epidemic of loneliness by using creativity as a means of connection. 

There is a wealth of data on the efficacy of the arts in fostering connection, supporting the healing process, and complementing other modalities to improve well-being. And, there are researchers who are evaluating this data. One researcher I follow is Dr. Stacey Springs, the research integrity officer for the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University. I heard her speak at a conference a few years ago, where she explained her partnership with the Rhode Island Department of Health and Rhode Island State Council on the Arts to review evidence and gaps in the field of arts and health, which guided many arts and health initiatives. One such example of research surrounding music in healing is explored in a co-authored study, “Music in the Treatment and Management of Serious Mental Illness: A Global Scoping of the Literature.” 

As I reflect on societal issues and the need for connection and healing, I ask again: Why does the field of arts and healing matter? The answer that surfaces is, from individual to global scope, we fundamentally and desperately need the healing and social connection that arts and culture can uniquely deliver. 

I recently encountered some very sobering statistics in Utah’s Mental Health System report by the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute, including Utah having a higher rate of adult mental illness than any other state; suicide being the leading cause of death for Utahns ages 10-24; and nearly 60% of Utah’s depressed youth aged 12-17 not receiving treatment for depression. We’ve all heard of – and likely experienced, to varying degrees – how rough the pandemic was on all dimensions of health. But this report was published in 2019, before COVID. When I saw this data, I was floored, considering the multifaceted implications to individuals and society as a whole. 

As with many problems, both causes and solutions are often complex. Are Utahns aware of these statistics that define our state in such an unflattering way? Unfortunately, there is still such stigma surrounding mental health that it’s a harder topic to address than, say, high blood pressure. This stigma keeps people from getting help. 

How can arts and culture aid in destigmatizing mental health issues? They provide a platform or space for confronting these issues, as well as the tools and means of expression for exploration, often within a supportive community. One particularly interesting article, Arts, Culture, and Community Mental Health, examines the impact of creative placemaking on mental health, including domains such as stigma, trauma, community-level stress, depression, substance use disorders, and cultural identity. The “100 Stone Project” is shared as a relevant example of a statewide initiative in Alaska to raise suicide awareness. Stories of illness, trauma, grief, and disability were shared by those identified as “the most vulnerable community members.” Artists created plaster casts of the individuals in various poses, providing physical representations as both recognition of their experience and focal points to stimulate awareness and open dialogue. 

Another broad and ambitious initiative was led by The Center for Arts in Medicine at the University of Florida entitled “Creating Healthy Communities: Arts + Public Health in America.” This three-year national project began with collaboration, bringing together “...over 300 thought leaders from the arts and culture, public health, and community development sectors to explore current practices, priorities, evidence and policy changes needed to enable community-based practice at the intersections of the arts and public health.” The next steps were Discovery (a multifaceted research strategy), Translation (development of a variety of resources based on the research), and Dissemination (extensive communications strategies to make the resources widely available).

Many efforts like those described are taking place worldwide. I have observed a gradual shift recently – evidenced by increased public dialogue, dedicated resources, and legislation fueled by COVID – of bringing public health (including mental health) to the forefront of public awareness. Professionals from a variety of fields are working valiantly to address the problems surrounding mental health. A growing number of quantitative and qualitative studies published in peer-reviewed journals provide evidence of the benefits of arts and culture to patients, caregivers, and community groups, and they are being integrated into plans for individual and community well-being and health. Some doctors dispense “social prescriptions” for patients to create, relax, and connect with others, based on evidence that they improve patient outcomes and decrease medical costs. 

Local work in this arena is encouraging, such as the Creative Arts Program at the Huntsman Cancer Institute; a recent University of Utah student exhibition called “2023 Healing Art Exhibit: Managing Burnout” (based on a model from the UC Irvine Healing Arts Program); and multiple wellness programs in visual arts, music, dance, writing, and other forms of creative expression that promote health and well-being offered by cultural organizations throughout the state. One powerful effort to help address the problem of youth depression and suicide is Utah Shakespeare Fesival’s tour of the life-affirming play “Every Brilliant Thing,” offered to every public high school in the state. It’s wonderful to see initiatives that foster healthy creative expression, destigmatize mental health challenges, and foster connection. 

Even closer to home are programs such as A Lifetime of Arts Elevated: Creative Aging, Poetry Out Loud, and the Measurement of Museum Social Impact offered through my work at the Division of Arts & Museums. Our division, along with our parent agency, Department of Cultural & Community Engagement, offers a rich variety of programs and services to support the health and well-being of Utahns. Some of these fall within the traditional realm of arts and healing, while others have a focus on sparking curiosity, learning, and the healing balm of social connection. 

A few of these include UServeUtah’s Healthcare Corps, where community health workers provide vital health education, including social resources to improve patient lives; Utah STEM Action Center’s Innovation Hub, which builds a social network of curious, creative minds; and the Utah Division of Multicultural Affairs’ community convenings. My hope is that with increased awareness of the value and availability of these resources, Utahns can use them to – individually and collectively – move toward greater healing.