Improving the community environment to support good health for all.

Our health is greatly impacted by the environment in which we live, work and play — our homes, neighborhoods, places of work, schools and community facilities. Ensuring a clean, safe, and healthy environment can help to promote physical, social, and emotional health throughout a community. The U.S. Surgeon General reports that individuals are more likely to participate in physical activity when their neighborhoods are connected to safe walking and bike routes and they have access to public transportation and recreational facilities.

Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP)

Healthy and Safe Physical Environment Goal: Develop and implement policies that promote healthy and safe physical environments for all who live, work and play in the Fairfax community.

One way the Partnership for a Healthier Fairfax is hoping to improve the health and safety of our environments is by implementing a Health in All Policies (HiAP) approach. The HiAP approach proactively takes into account the health implications of decisions at all stages of the policymaking process to avoid harmful health impacts, support positive health outcomes and promote health equity. To find out more about Fairfax's Healthy and Safe Physical Environment objectives and key actions, read the Live Healthy Fairfax Community Health Improvement Plan (pages 16-17).

See our progress detailed in the latest CHIP annual evaluation report.

What's Happening in the Community?

• The Board of Supervisors adopted the Fairfax County Master Bicycle Plan in October 2014, which recommends 1,130 miles in new on- and off-road bike routes to create a connected network across the county.
• In August 2014, the Fairfax County Health Department partnered with the Fairfax County Department of Transportation on the county's first Health Impact Assessment of two proposed locations for the Richmond Highway Transit Center.
• The Fairfax County Park Authority is engaging the community through a "Parks Counts" initiative, which examines whether park offerings match the community's diverse interests, lifestyles and changing trends.

Get Involved

To join the Healthy and Safe Environment Priority Issue Team, email us or call us at 703-246-8856, TTY 711.

Resources

• What Is Healthy Community Design? Find out from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
• Case Studies
  Read the stories about how public health and planning professionals across the U.S. are using CDC grants to build healthier communities.