Blue Zones to conduct a countywide assessment
and propose a plan to help all residents live better,
longer
OUTER BANKS, N.C.,
July 24,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Outer Banks Health and Dare
County Department of Health & Human Services have joined forces
with Blue Zones, the global leader in longevity research and
community well-being transformation, to launch Blue Zones Ignite™
Outer Banks.
Blue Zones uses an evidence-based, environmental approach to
making healthy choices easier where they live and spend most of
their time. Blue Zones will work with Outer Banks Health, the
County, and other community leaders to conduct an in-depth
feasibility assessment to determine how to make it a healthier
place to live, work, and thrive. Together with the community, the
Blue Zones team will assess readiness and build a plan for
change.
The launch of Blue Zones Ignite is a dream come true for
Christina Bowen, MD, Outer Banks
Health Center for Healthy Living Medical Director, and ECU Health
Chief Well-being Officer. "We know that 20% of health and longevity
is tied to genetics; while 80% is tied to where and how we live.
Blue Zones Ignite Outer Banks is going to inspire us to celebrate
and promote our strong sense of community while we find ways to
make it even easier to eat healthy foods, move naturally and
connect with our purpose – just a few of the ways we'll continue to
enhance our well-being and make this an even better place to live
and work," shared Dr. Bowen.
The Blue Zones Approach
Blue Zones employs a proven solution in collaboration with
communities to help people live better and longer lives. The
company's work is based on research and principles developed by
National Geographic Fellow and New York
Times bestselling author Dan
Buettner, who identified the cultures of the world – or blue
zones regions – with the healthiest, longest-living
populations.
The Blue Zones approach focuses on the single largest
determinant of health: the place we live. Instead of focusing
solely on individual behavior change, Blue Zones helps communities
make permanent and semi-permanent changes to policies, systems,
streets, surroundings, and social networks so it's easier for
residents to eat wisely, move naturally, and connect more with
others as they move throughout their day. By improving the Life
Radius®—the area close to home where most Americans
spend 90% of their lives—Blue Zones transformations have been able
to move the needle dramatically in improving overall population
health and well-being. Communities that have participated in the
Blue Zone's Ignite project have seen double-digit drops in obesity
and smoking rates, economic investment in downtown corridors, grant
funding awards to support policies and programs to improve health
equity, and measurable savings in healthcare costs.
"Together, Outer Banks Health and Dare County Health and Human
Services are steadfast in our shared mission to enhance the health
and well-being of all residents, so that they can live a happy,
healthy and long life," said Dr. Sheila
Davies, Director Health & Human Services.
Ben Leedle, CEO of Blue Zones and
Co-founder of Blue Zones Project, said: "We are excited to partner
with forward-thinking leaders in the joint effort of improving
well-being in the Outer Banks. That improvement, at the community
level, leads to healthier and happier residents, better and more
productive workforces and student bodies, and a more vibrant
economy. We are excited to collaborate to create a transformation
plan that can generate lasting positive change and ignite a
community-wide movement towards sustained well-being."
The Blue Zones expert team will connect with Outer Banks leaders
and organizations to begin immediate work assessing the strengths,
needs, and challenges that residents are facing today. Blue Zones
will then create a policy-focused transformation plan that, once
implemented, can drive widespread improvements in well-being,
reductions in healthcare costs, and improve economic vitality in
the region.
About Blue Zones
Blue Zones employs evidence-based ways to help people live
better, longer. The company's work is rooted in explorations and
research done by founder and National Geographic Fellow Dan
Buettner in blue zones regions around the world, where people live
extraordinarily long and/or happy lives. The original research and
findings were released in Buettner's bestselling books The Blue
Zones Solution, The Blue Zones of Happiness, The Blue Zones,
Thrive, Blue Zones Kitchen, Blue Zones Challenge, Blue Zones
American Kitchen, and The Blue Zones Secrets for Living
Longer—all published by National Geographic books. An
Emmy-award winning docuseries, Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue
Zones, was released on Netflix in 2023. Using original Blue
Zones research, Blue Zones works with cities and counties to make
healthy choices easier through permanent and semi-permanent changes
to our human-made surroundings. Participating communities have
experienced double-digit drops in obesity and tobacco use and have
saved millions of dollars in healthcare costs. For more
information, visit www.bluezones.com.
About Outer Banks Health
Outer Banks Health comprises a community hospital, five primary
care and six specialty care practices, two urgent care facilities,
an outpatient rehabilitation therapy center, and a state-of-the-art
cancer center. Offering exceptional health care to the residents
and visitors of Dare County and the surrounding region, Outer Banks
Health is part of ECU Health and Chesapeake Regional
Healthcare.
Contacts:
Naomi Imatome-Yun
naomi@bluezones.com
Wendy Kelly
Outer Banks Health
wendy.kelly@theobh.com
Kelly Nettnin Fleming
Dare County Department of
Health & Human Services
kelly.fleming@darenc.gov
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SOURCE Blue Zones