Princeton Designated 'Healthy Town' For 2022 By Quality Institute

PRINCETON, NJ — The Municipality was recently awarded the designation of "Healthy Town" for 2022 by the New Jersey Health Care Quality Institute.

The award is given by the Quality Institute to cities and towns that improve health and wellness in their communities through innovative programs like exercise, healthy eating, and mental health education and awareness.

In the past year, Princeton has focused on the mental health and wellness of residents. One of their most successful programs has been a book club at the local library to encourage education and discussion about issues related to mental health.

Mayor Mark Freda said the Municipality was honored to be chosen by the Quality Institute as a Healthy Town for 2022.

Highlighting Princeton's achievements in the past year, Freda said: "Throughout last year, our Mayors Wellness Committee team engaged over 500 residents in mental wellness activities that were rooted in increasing awareness, education, and incidence reduction. The Municipality of Princeton chose to address mental health because of the City Health Dashboard, which provides town-level data on a variety of health metrics, including those related to social determinants of health.”

Princeton conducted a community health assessment survey to gain feedback from residents on
pressing health challenges.

Mental health was identified as a top health concern, both through the dashboard and community health assessment.

In response, the Municipality’s Mayor's Wellness Campaign team brainstormed several
evidence-based mental health wellness activities which included gardening, watercolor painting,
and book club discussions around mental health that were delivered throughout the
community.

“The success of our MWC in 2022 was driven by continued community partnerships with the
Princeton Public Library, Arts Council of Princeton, Princeton Corner House, Garden Club of
Princeton, Princeton Senior Resource Center, Trinity Counseling, and Princeton Care Center,”
Freda said.

Fourteen NJ Towns were “Healthy Town” winners, Seventeen towns were designated as 2022 “Healthy Town to Watch,” and seven were designated as 2022 “Healthy Town Up-and-Coming.”

The Mayors Wellness Campaign (MWC)is a program of the Quality Institute in partnership with the New Jersey State League of Municipalities.

Each year, communities participating in the MWC complete a comprehensive Healthy Town application outlining their research to identify their community health needs and explaining how they have organized their local MWC committee.

The application also highlights the towns' actions to make their communities healthier places to live, work, and play.

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