Chathams Named A 2018 Mayor's Wellness Healthy Town

CHATHAM, NJ - The Chathams were recognized as a 2018 Mayor's Wellness Healthy Town through the New Jersey Health Care Quality Institute's Mayors Wellness Campaign.

The honor is given to towns where "mayors have made healthy lifestyles a top priority and are actively engaging all the members of their community," the campaign says. The other New Jersey towns to earn the distinction in 2018 are Bergenfield, Morristown, Montclair, Plainfield, Princeton, Stone Harbor, and Westwood. All towns that meet the standards are recognized each year.

“Achieving the Healthy Town designation is a tremendous achievement for Chatham Borough,”
said Mayor Bruce Harris. “It reflects our commitment to being a sustainable community and our recognition that healthy lifestyles on the part of the residents are a key component of a community. Congratulations to our Mayors' Wellness team, led by Chairman Brian George MS,
MBA, FACHE, and Council Member Victoria Fife supported by Janice Piccolo Director of
Community Services, which has done so much to promote healthy living and worked very hard
to complete our application.”

Chatham Borough and Chatham Township jointly led the MWC to coordinate efforts toward
improving the health of residents. During an initial assessment, the MWC committee identified mental health stigma as a top concern for the community. To address this, Chatham offered the following programs:

• STAY – An adult education program on suicide prevention provided through the library that provides parents and caregivers with information on how to help loved ones cope with crisis situations.
• Project Community Pride – The initiative offers one-on-one free counseling for adolescents and their families in emotional crisis due to family dysfunction, behavior issues at school or in the community.
• Aside from raising awareness and support around mental health, the Chatham MWC led a Mobility in Nature program that provided a community walkability study of a 3.3 mile loop through downtown shopping areas.

Six categories are considered when selecting healthy towns:

• Defining Health Broadly – addressing the social and economic factors that impact health outcomes.
• Measurement and Data Sharing – identifying measurable health indicators and establishing shared goals with partners.
• Health Equity – reducing, and ultimately eliminating, health disparities by focusing programming on those most affected by poor health outcomes.
• Procurement of Resources – harnessing the collective power of your MWC Committee and local business partners to efficiently align resources that maximize community health.
• Collaboration – building diverse partnerships across sectors to build capacity for programming.
• Commitment to Sustainability – developing programs that are designed to last

To learn more about the MWC, visit: http://www.njhcqi.org/MWC or contact Adrian Diogo at
adiogo@njhcqi.org.

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