Community Health

APA Minnesota supports:

Integrating public health into planning for equitable, sustainable and resilient communities.

• The integration of public health and planning documents and activities to address the social and environmental determinants of health.
• Incorporating public health into land use enabling legislation, land use decision-making, comprehensive planning, and local and regional planning documents and activities to reduce public health risks and protect the life and health of Minnesotans.
• Approaches to ensure decision makers are informed about the mutually beneficial opportunities integrating public health provides.
• Development and adoption of health criteria or adapting established health indices to improve community health.
• Development and adoption of climate mitigation and climate adaptation plans and policies as a means to improve public health in planning and realize the mutual benefits of planning for global change at the local level.
• Changes in land use, zoning, development standards, building codes, regulations, and ordinances that improve public health throughout Minnesota communities.
• Planning activities that address active living, multigenerational living, health equity, emergency and hazard planning, access to cultural resources and health and social services to protect and improve the lives and health of Minnesotans.
• Planning activities that improve mental health conditions that are affected by the social and environmental factors resulting from land use decisions.