Southwest Florida IS NOW A CERTIFIED BLUE ZONES COMMUNITY

by Blue Zones Project Southwest Florida

To become a Blue Zones Certified Community, our community came together to help make healthy choices easier. Every individual and organization (over 800 organizations) that adopted Power 9 and other well-being principles as part of their lifestyle and organization’s infrastructure, have contributed to a well-being tipping point to help make healthier choices become part of our culture. In addition, our community planners and elected officials who implemented best practices, and continue to do so, to make healthier choices easier in our environment have been instrumental in making SWFL a healthier and happier place to live.For example, we can see this on streets where sidewalks and bike lanes have been prioritized, and where streets are designed to move traffic more efficiently and safely. In addition, policies related to de-normalizing tobacco and vaping continue to protect our youngest generation from becoming addicted to tobacco. Our food policy champions are prioritizing efforts to keep fresh food local, make healthy food accessible to all, and prevent future food system failures during disasters such as pandemics or hurricanes.

In Blue Zones Project, we measure impact at the individual, organizational and community level. Individuals can measure their personal well-being by taking the RealAge assessment, making modifications in their health habits and then re-taking RealAge at least annually to gauge their progress toward living their best life. Businesses and organizations can assess their well-being by a variety of measures unique to their sector, as well as a customized aggregate data report that Blue Zones Project can supply to them sans personal identifiers.

As a community, we look at various data sets from RealAge aggregate data which can be analyzed down to the zip code level to several hundred social determinant of health (SDoH) measures, such as access to healthy food, healthcare, transit, libraries and parks, safe places to recreate, and affordable housing which are indicative of the degree to which community infrastructure supports well-being. We partner with Boston University to provide an in depth analysis of SWFL well-being overall, as well as reports that are dialed down to the sub-geographical areas of Bonita, Estero, Immokalee, Naples, Golden Gate, East Naples and Marco Island.

What’s Next?

Knowing that well-being truly is a continuous journey rather than a destination, NCH will continue to fund an additional two years of the project dedicated to sustainability. This includes:

• Continued collaboration with community partners and engagement with individuals in their well-being journey
• Ongoing building of well-being infrastructure in places (worksites, homeowners associations, schools, faith-based organizations, restaurants and markets) to help make healthy choices easier
• Lending technical support to food, tobacco and built environment planners and elected officials interested in passing policy that elevates the health and wellness of the community
• Rolling out Blue Zones Project tools for use by physicians to help support their own patients’ health and well-being
Over the next two years, we will continue to measure well-being at the zip code level and share the data analysis with community partners so we can identify needs, optimize use of resources, and utilize the data to attract grant funding to help where people might be suffering and struggling. This is done using the RealAge® test as a collection instrument. Taken by over 43 million people worldwide, the RealAge test determines how old a person really is based on stress levels, diet, activity, and sleep. Then, goals are set to lower or maintain that person’s RealAge.

Now, more than ever, well-being is needed on all levels. We are honored and excited to have the opportunity to meet this challenge and continue serving the Southwest Florida community over the next two years. Our goal is to positively impact the health and well-being of all Southwest Florida residents and create a change that lasts for generations. Continue your well-being journey with us!