The regional district board of directors agreed to a request put forward in December to participate in a partnership with the Interior Health Authority at the January 10 regional district board meeting.
Betty Brown, Community Health Facilitator with Interior Health, presented the Program for Healthy Communities at the December 20, 2012 meeting of the board. She asked them to adopt a resolution stating their interest in partnering with IHA to promote healthy living throughout the region.
The board approved a recommendation put forward to partner with the Okanagan Similkameen Healthy Living Society (OSHLS) to increase actions that will improve the health of citizens in the regional district by reducing chronic disease and obesity.
The board also resolved to encourage each of their member municipalities to indicate their support of this intiative by resolving to enter into the Letter of Understanding with the OSHLS.
The Healthy Communities initiative works with local governments to plan and implement actions to reduce chronic disease by assisting local governments with the provision of data, presentations, workshops, best practice tools and resources, planning and facilitation, support to develop community health profiles, gap analysis, measuring and monitoring and joint development of a Healthy Living Strategic Plan.
The Healthy Living Coalition currently has representatives from the Interior Health Authority, the RDOS, the City of Penticton, the Penticton Indian Band, School District #67, and the Okanagan Healthy Living Society. This organizing group will is expected to develop guiding principles, followed by a workshop in the spring that will hopefully draw wider participation for other local governments, First Nations, school districts, and other stakeholders.