Healthy Environments Active Living

The Utah Department of Health and Human Services, Healthy Environments Active Living program plays a key role in improving the health of residents in the state of Utah. The program was formed in July 2013 (as EPICC), through a new funding opportunity from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that allowed for the merging of three previously existing programs: the Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention Program, the Diabetes Prevention and Control Program, and the Physical Activity, Nutrition and Obesity Program, as well as the addition of a school health program. The Healthy Environments Active Living Program (HEAL) was recently restructured as part of this strategic planning process and the new program model focuses on working together with staff and partners to address the social determinants of health while advancing health equity and increasing policy, systems and environment changes.

Vision:  All Utahns have equitable opportunities to lead healthy, informed, safe, and productive lives.

Mission: Create community-clinical linkages and improve education, policy, built environment, and access to quality care in preventing and managing chronic diseases.

Guiding Principles

Collaborative: We believe working collaboratively fuels growth, innovation, and creativity. We believe in working collaboratively with anyone directly impacted by our work and that strategic partnerships are fundamental to our success. We believe our partners and the general public should have access to program resources and expertise, and we will be clear about how to access these materials.

Communication: We will communicate openly, frequently, and respectfully. We will be clear and transparent in all of our communications and work cohesively to complete high quality work in a timely manner.

Data-driven: We believe data and evaluation should be incorporated into all stages of work to ensure interventions are evidence-based, inform continuous quality improvement, and monitor progress towards reaching our goals. We believe in sharing data back with staff, partners, and the public, where appropriate.

Equitable: We believe that the prioritization of issues and activities, and the distribution of resources, must be carried out in a manner that allows all Utahns the opportunity to attain their highest level of health. We believe that health equity cannot be advanced without the meaningful involvement of underserved communities in all stages of work.

Innovative: We believe in a culture of continuous learning and a willingness to apply new knowledge and ideas without the fear of failure. We understand that although every new idea may not produce the desired outcomes, there is always a lesson to extract from it that will contribute to the evidence base.

Respect: We value the differences in opinion, communication styles and knowledge of our team and partners, and we respect those differences by being kind, courteous and valuing their work. We assume good intent in all situations.

Work-life Balance: The demands of one's career and the demands of one's personal life are equally important. We recognize that we are all individuals and value the flexibility to learn and adapt as needed to help meet demands in our work and in our personal lives.

Overarching Goals:

Healthy People: Increase access to resources that empower all people in Utah to reach their full health potential.

Healthy Communities: Increase the capacity of communities to support and promote healthy living for all individuals.

Equitable Society: Increase opportunities for people who are under-resourced and under-represented in Utah to live healthy and thriving lives.

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