We often think of health in terms of health care. But our communities—the places where we live, learn, work, and play—also have lasting impact on our health and well-being, as do the forces shaping these environments. So at TEDMED 2016, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) challenged Delegates to re-imagine our perception of health care.

1.
Live, learn, work, play
Building Healthier
Communities TEDMED 2016

2. Speakers and Hive Innovators
reimagined healthy communities in
their TEDMED Talks.
RWJF honored seven U.S.
communities as 2016 Culture of
Health Prize Winners for making
great strides toward better health and
well-being.
From the
Program
From
RWJF
Delegates shared ideas for
programs and policies that they’d
like to see in their own locales,
while online participants submitted
their visions on Twitter and
Facebook. Every idea was
displayed in the Hive exhibit.
From the
TEDMED Delegates
We often think of health in terms of health care. But our communities—the places where we live,
learn, work, and play—also have lasting impact on our health and well-being, as do the forces
shaping these environments. So at TEDMED 2016, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF)
challenged Delegates to re-imagine our perception of health care.
Building a Culture of Health

3. The Themes
1. Micro shifts can have macro impact
2. Communities are innovation test kitchens
3. Mind the gaps
4. Build community into the business model
5. Art acts as a community cure
6. Our cities define our selves
7. It takes a village
8. Strangers aren’t dangers

4. Want to change the world? Start small. Pandemics such as
Ebola begin with a single case. Speaker Jeremy Farrar focuses
on community-level responses to stem pandemic destruction,
while Kinnos fights back with visible contamination sprays that
reduce hospital error. Speaker and healthy-eating evangelist
Gunhild Stordalen believes that our individual actions reverberate
across the global food system.
We encourage radical candor, support,
and activities among our neighbors.
- Delegate in Narberth, PA
What if we started with healthy bake sales
at schools to encourage nutritious diets at
an early age?
- Delegate in Durham, NC
Micro shifts
can have
macro impact
1.
”
“
Photo credit: TEDMED

5. Your local neighborhood can serve as your lab.
Health clinicians can look to the medical marijuana
dispensaries in their neighborhoods to emulate their
personal, customized method of care, as speaker
David Casarett suggests. In the Columbia River
Gorge region of the Pacific Northwest, new
partnerships—like dentists paired up with local
school districts—help connect the dots in health
prevention. And community facilities can be
remixed, too: In New Hampshire, fire stations also
serve as safe havens and intake centers for people
with addictions.
Grocery stores can act like demo kitchens to teach
citizens to prepare healthy foods.
- Delegate in Boston, MA
Community health clinics could prescribe more
than medication: food, housing, or heat.
- Delegate in Portland, ME
Libraries should lend more than books, like bikes
to keep community members moving.
- Delegate in San Diego, CA
Communities
are innovation
test kitchens
2.
”
“
Photo credit: iStock

6. The key to healthier communities often lies between the
cracks, in what is overlooked and rarely addressed. Speaker
Susie Baldwin helps physicians go beyond the usual vital signs to
identify victims of human trafficking. Speaker Sue Klebold has
devoted her life to advancing mental illnesses treatment before
tragic events occur. Meanwhile, Watsi connects donors to
patients in need so their life-saving treatments can be funded, no
matter how underserved their communities.
Mind the gaps
3.
”
“ Communities need more adult education
programs to up-skill adult learners and open up
new job opportunities.
- Delegate in Philadelphia, PA
Identify the biggest health challenges in specific
areas and create local campaigns to address them;
employ undercover healthcare ambassadors to
penetrate these sights.
- Delegate in Bryce, VA
Chicago is resource-segregated. We should create
more resources, like pharmacies and grocery stores,
and distribute them more evenly across the city,
while improving the safety of public transit stops.
- Delegate in Chicago, ILPhoto credit: TEDMED

7. Business can benefit all. As part of the Culture of Health
community winners, a town in Missouri called Pagedale
established a nonprofit community land trust to expand residents’
access to home ownership and strengthen community ties. And
Benefunder connects donors to underfunded research needs by
letting backers identify the specific projects they want to support,
resulting in a funding model that pays dividends.
Partnerships drive mutual value: Pair up school
programs and local farmers to provide healthy
food to our kids.
- Delegate in Philadelphia, PA
Our local Starbucks should host community
events in the evening. It’s good for the
business and good for the neighborhood.
- Delegate in San Mateo, CA
Let’s encourage partnering between local
businesses to bring new customers to our
farmer’s market.
- Delegate in Suffolk, VA
Build
community into
the business
model
4.
”
“
Photo credit: RWJF

8. Modern art therapy comes in all forms. Speaker Emi
Mahmoud believes that spoken word can teach community youth
empathy and empowerment. And in Louisville, Kentucky, a
vacant lot became a drum-circle venue while a liquor store turned
into an art-making space to help residents use art to address
community health needs. For speaker Ted Meyer, art made by
patients’ scars not only serves as a creative outlet, but also a tool
that depicts their care realities so medical school students can
learn from patients’ experiences.
School art programs can partner with
hospitals or elderly care homes to display
inspiring works.
- Delegate in Jacksonville, FL
Meditative mindsets could benefit our
nation’s decision makers with daily pauses
or dances, and shared leadership practices.
- Delegate in Washington, DC
Art acts as a
community
cure
5.
”
“
Repurpose unused land and open spaces in
underserved communities as places for creative
arts and other passions.
- Delegate in Detroit, MI
Photo credit: TEDMED

9. The physical environment is a critical health factor. Speaker
David R. Williams believes addressing housing inequality is
critical to understanding why some people live longer than
others. He studies the links between racial housing disparities
and lifelong health conditions. And The Kavli Foundation’s
HUMAN Project seeks to understand the human condition by
incorporating and studying extensive data like environmental
measurements, not just biological and behavioral data.
Our cities
define our
selves
6.
Signage and ads that communicate
health awareness and public transportation
can promote healthy activities everywhere.
- Delegate in Portland, OR
Rent-stabilization programs can ensure city
dwellers can renew a lease without excessive
rent-price increases.
- Delegate in Manhattan, NY
Clean water builds trust and health among
community members and city leaders.
- Delegate in San Diego, CA
”
“
Photo credit: TEDMED

10. Together, we can change our neighborhoods. In North St.
Louis, Missouri, 24 municipalities came together to create 24:1, a
coalition of counties determined to build stronger communities,
engaged families, and successful children. From fitness classes
to senior centers to meetings with the mayor, the initiative brings
change by bringing people together. On the West Coast, Santa
Monica, California, uses another collaboration model: Citizens
help the homeless by bringing together police and fire
departments; city human services; health and housing offices;
and nonprofit service providers.
Expand book exchange programs that work
to bring neighbors together to help build
healthy minds.
- Delegate in Brooklyn, NY
Local diners can become places to host
meals and events for neighborhood groups
and nonprofits. Invite local politicians!
- Delegate in Decatur, GA
It takes a
village
7.
”
“
Photo credit: RWJF

11. Shake a hand, extend a hand. In a world driven by technology,
Delegates reminded us that more than ever, people need to come
together. Speaker Larissa MacFarquhar told the story of extreme
altruists who feel driven to save the lives of total strangers. And
the Shoalwater Bay Indian Tribe in Washington state puts out the
welcome mat for neighbors from surrounding communities. When
the reservation opened a gym, commercial fishermen from a
neighboring town were invited to join for free. Even the tribe’s
small police force is integrated with law enforcement officers from
other nearby areas.
Strangers
aren’t
dangers
8.
Bus stops can include posters that prompt riders
to talk to other members of the community.
- Delegate in Providence, RI
Trash pickup and leaf removal can be
reframed as an opportunity to exercise and
bring people together from all walks of life.
- Delegate in Chevy Chase, MD
Multimodal and economically accessible infrastructure
integrates areas of varying socioeconomic status.
- Via #HealthyCommunities on Twitter
”
“
Photo credit: RWJF

12. TEDMED
RWJF Culture of Health Prize Winners
#HealthyCommunities
@RWJF
@TEDMED
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13. Contributors