There are many factors that contribute to making a community a healthy community. A 2016 report on the health performance of Canadian cities ranked ten major Canadian cities. The four factors that were considered in this study were:

1. Life satisfaction;
2. Population health;
3. Healthy lifestyle; and
4. Access to health care services.

Having the opportunity to be physically active all year round is only one factor that makes a community a healthy place to live. There are many other factors that contribute to the health of a community, including actions that individuals can take that contribute to the health of others in a healthy community. We have learned about the importance of taking individual action to avoid the spread of communicable diseases, such as keeping up to date with immunizations, washing our hands, or following safer sex guidelines to prevent STIs.

Another part of belonging to a healthy community is having access to services when you need them the most. We can all do our part to make sure that members in our community have access to these vital services. Two examples of how we can contribute to the health of others is through donating blood or choosing to be an organ donor.

Organ Donation

Organ donation can save lives. In Canada, there are more people who need organs than there are organs available. A better understanding of the issues surrounding consent may encourage more people to become donors.

Becoming a tissue and organ donor is one action that can save lives - and, actions like this are greatly needed. About a third of the organs that could be donated are lost because potential donors didn't make their families aware of their wishes, according to the British Columbia Transplant Society.

Many Canadians who are waiting for an organ die on the waiting list. So, if you're interested in donating your organs, there are certain steps you should make to ensure that this happens. In Ontario, you can show your intent to be an organ donor by carrying a signed donor card. Having a family member who is on a dialysis machine, or living in a hospital waiting for a lung or heart transplant, really demonstrates the importance of this life-giving gift. If you’d like to know more, read about these steps from Service Ontario: Organ and Tissue Donation.

Other Opportunities...

Perhaps organ donation or giving blood is not available to you. Think about other ways you can donate to your community to make it a better place. Perhaps you could work at a local food bank or pet shelter. Dryden has the Second Chance Pet Network, and volunteers are the only way this organization exists. They offer a pet adoption and shelter for unwanted cats and dogs. Many students help out as part of the community volunteer hours that they need to complete in order to graduate.

Photo courtesy of L. Tremonti.

Part of helping others is volunteering and/or recruiting others to help with your cause. Often this is done through media campaigns, but more often these people come to a cause because they hear about it from family or friends who believe in it. This is a picture of Piper who is part of the St. John’s Pet Therapy program. Piper, along with her owner visit the residents of a senior’s home in their community and provides them with company. Piper has many friends who are residents and love to see her.

Time to gather and organize,

Time to evaluate and draw conclusions.

The following chart lists and explains five strategies that are used in health promotion to create a culture of well being in a community and to support individuals in taking control of their own health and make healthy choices. Click on each strategy in order to read more.

The Public Health Agency of Canada is a part of our federal government. Its mission statement is, "to promote and protect the health of Canadians through leadership, partnership, innovation, and action in public health."

The agency’s responsibility is to advocate for and support the health and well-being of all Canadians. The agency uses the five health promotion strategies that you just read about to encourage good health for all individuals in Canada.

Health promotion has an important role in schools and communities. We all have a role to play in supporting the well being of others by promoting healthy living in our school and our community. There are key skills that are needed to successfully plan and implement any health promotion initiative.

When planning and promoting a healthy living event in your school community, you will need to use the inquiry skills you have developed so far in this course. These include:

• gathering and organizing information about the interests and needs of your community;
• interpreting and analysing your information and drawing conclusions about the initiative you want to implement to create your action plan; and
• communicating with your target audience to promote your initiative.

Time to gather and organize.

Time to interpret and analyze.

Time to evaluate and draw conclusions.

Time to communicate.

In this activity, we have learned that the purpose of health promotion is to create a culture of health and well being in a community. We learned that this is done by persuading and helping people to advocate for and take control of the parts of their lives that affect their health. We also learned that a big part of health promotion is lobbying governments to create policies and encourage organizations to provide services that are needed to help people take control of their health.

Time to gather and organize.