State's strength hinges on wellness

The true front lines in the fight for community health and wellness are far from the sleek conference rooms where many of the campaigns are designed. They are not in insurance company actuarial tables, or at the construction of jogging tracks and health clubs.

The front lines are in places like Benton Harbor, on a steamy Sunday afternoon in August, at a city park where residents have gathered for picnic fare, games, a Moon Bounce and a sense of civic pride. They are there to watch their kids demonstrate what they've learned in Tai Kwan Do classes and see them swell with individual pride.

The front lines are also across the street, in a parking lot where Cigna has wheeled in a semi truck outfitted as a wellness Mobile Learning Lab. The interactive exhibits in the inviting, brightly colored truck draw children looking for video games, and who end up learning about healthy lifestyles in the process.

The front lines are manned by people like Jeff Doemland, a Cigna employee and co-founder of the Communities of Health demonstrations in Michigan. The programs bring people together in collaborative dialogue to explore social conditions that are the major influences of health and illness, in a way that generates deeper collective awareness and community-driven action. The initiative also rests on the premise that healthy communities, and states, depend on the well-being of workers who can productively contribute to their companies and the economy.

To Doemland, the truck and the program are also about "exposing people to and building awareness of the social determinants of health." He explains that, according to researchers, approximately 45% of everything that determines an individual's health can be attributed to factors such as access to medical care and resources that help them behave in a healthy fashion. But 55% can be attributed to social determinants, such as where an individual lives and how he feels about his environment. For example, Doemland explains, "if you live in a place where there is a pervasive distrust of neighbors, the stress level is enormous....It can be like running a car engine at a high rate of RPM, eventually leading to burnout and breakdown."

Other social determinants can include access to transportation. Sometimes, for example, owning a car can mean the difference between getting to the other end of town to shop for healthy food in a grocery store, or a diet of primarily dense fast food fare.


There is so much to be done, as even a few minutes watching people cycle through the Mobile Learning Lab reveals. One boy who dons a weighted vest to discover what it feels like to be 20 pounds overweight gets a first-hand sense of what it means to make healthy or unhealthy choices. Others drop by to thank Doemland and Cigna for their efforts, expressing hope that even more can be done to reach and educate children at a grassroots level. If successful, the hope is that Communities of Health outreach such as the Learning Lab and community events, and with support of corporate backers like Cigna and Whirlpool, can be replicated across Michigan. Marcus Robinson, leader of the Consortium for Community Development, says his group has identified some 700 municipalities in need of substantial help.

On this day in August, however, the focus is on Benton Harbor, a town hit hard by job loss and economic recession. It is a town that has taken it on the chin, perhaps moreso than any other in Michigan. Yet it is also a place of tremendous spirit and faith, where a population of around 10,000 gather in more than 100 churches to share their experience, strength and hope. It is that place where kids can gather in the park and make proud their parents who stand near and daydream about brighter futures. It is on the front lines in the battle for the health, well-being and prosperity for the state and all it's children and grown-ups, embracing change the way a fresh breeze from across the Lake Michigan embraces them.