What Guides Our Work

Collaboration ~ Health For All ~ Innovation ~ Advocacy ~ Community

Healthy People Wood County team coordinators gather partners and create partnerships using the following as guidelines:

Our Guiding Principles

Blue puzzle piece with "Enhance health for all".
Gray puzzle piece with "Focus on changing Policies, Systems, & the Environment".
Arrows in a circle shape directing to the corresponding puzzle pieces, featured in the center is a set of hands shaking with three community partners represented, creating partnerships.
Green puzzle piece with "Engage the community".
Light purple puzzle piece with "Create partnerships for lasting change"

We work in the “gray area”. Our work is never straightforward, often shifting in shape and changing direction, but we continually work within our guidelines to enhance the overall health of Wood County residents.

Click the arrows to find out more about our guiding principles.

Heart with health sign above three people icon.

  • Everyone should have a fair and just opportunity to thrive, be healthy, and live their best life.

    • Health outcomes should not be determined by race, ethnicity, class, gender, income, education, geography, or any other group status.

    • We want to make sure everyone has the basic building blocks needed to have positive health and life outcomes.

    • Good health for all allows us to be engaged members of our community, which in turn benefits all of Wood County.

An icon consisting of three graphics: a clipboard with a policy symbol, a gear featuring three people, and a tree with a bench and a bike.

  • Many health programs focus on individual behavior change.

    • Unfortunately your own choices make up only 20% of what makes you healthy.

    • An example of systems and environmental change:

      • We don’t tell people “you should eat 1 cup of lettuce a day”

      • Instead we work with community partners to make sure that local fruits and veggies are available and affordable through farmers markets, grocery stores, and school lunch lines!

Three community members sitting at a table engaged in a conversation.

  • We firmly believe residents have the strongest voice when it comes to decision making.

    • We work alongside and with the community.

    • As often as possible we conduct surveying, focus groups, 1:1 conversations, and outreach at target organizations to make sure a diverse resident voice is captured and has a hand in this work!

Icon of two people high fiving, creating sustainable partnership to improve health outcomes.

  • If we do our jobs right, we won’t be doing this work forever.

    • We create partnerships and help enhance the work that is currently being done or more often fill in the gaps.

    • We find innovative solutions that are upstream and bold.

    • If the team is successful- the work envelopes into existing entities and we can address the next health priority for Wood County residents.

    • Click here to find out more.