Making it Better newsletter

Minnesota Department of Health sent this bulletin at 08/09/2018 11:00 AM CDT

Making it Better: Minnesota's Health Improvement Log

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Aug. 9, 2018

Healthy food access efforts get a boost

Grant recipients include SHIP partners

The Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) has announced that 14 projects statewide were awarded funding through the Good Food Access Program (GFAP). This program helps local grocery stores and small food retailers purchase equipment and make physical improvements, increasing access to affordable, nutritious and culturally appropriate foods in underserved and low- and moderate-income communities.

Read the news release from MDA.

A list of recipients is available on MDA’s website. Of those recipients, these three are working with Statewide Health Improvement Partnership grantees on the Good Food Sold Here initiative, which is helping small retail stores make it easier for customers to find the healthy and nutritious foods and beverages they want to buy:

Sam’s Mini Mart (Dakota County)
Darrel’s Full Service Foods (Horizon)
Fiza Halal Market (Olmsted County)

SHIP Year 4 planning tip

Community engagement activities

We’re providing a series of tips to grantees to help guide completion of work plans.

As you explore possible SHIP work with new communities or new populations, there is a time where you are assessing conditions, building new relationships and exploring which SHIP strategies may be a good fit.

How can your work plan reflect those activities? Where do you reflect Community Leadership Team recruitment, CLT meeting preparation, etc.? Benton County added an “Other Public Health Activities” project to their work plan. To do the same, add a tab to the excel sheet, or integrate those activities in one of the community strategies. If you have questions, connect with your Community Specialist.

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Social media best practices

Use #MNSHIP

How often do you post to your social media platforms? Is the content directly SHIP related? If so, we have a hashtag! Use #MNSHIP on your Twitter and Instagram posts to help track content, and it's a fun addition on Facebook, too.

And, if you tag Minnesota Department of Health on your message, there's a good chance that we'll share your message (MDH on Twitter; MDH on Facebook).

Calendar

Webinar: Building healthy, equitable communities through comprehensive long-range planning

Date: Tuesday, Aug. 21
Time: 1-1:45 p.m.

This webinar from ChangeLab Solutions will look at building health and equity into long-range plans by discussing

How place-based strategies are central to health equity
A framework categorizing the elements of healthy places
How to organize long-range plans using health equity concepts

This webinar will feature Moses Gates of the Regional Plan Association, who will discuss how equity was integrated into the design and implementation of the Fourth Regional Plan, a roadmap to achieving greater equity, shared prosperity, better health and sustainability throughout the New York metropolitan region.

Interactive panel: Continued conversation about the built environment

Date: Thursday, Aug. 23

Time: 1-2 p.m.

Join an online expert panel, hosted by ChangeLab Solutions, which will delve into innovative ways to promote health equity through place-based planning and investment.

Hear perspectives from:

Erik Calloway (moderator), senior planner at ChangeLab Solutions
Andrea Nelson, senior community development specialist at the San Francisco Planning Department
Kate Kingery, deputy director of community transformation at County Health Rankings & Roadmaps
Stephanie Garcia-Vause, assistant city manager for the City of Henderson, Nev.