Overall Purpose

 Many people in Louisville are working within and across the eight forms of health represented by the Circle of Harmony and Health to improve health outcomes in our community. The work they are doing is creating a Health In All Policies approach to decision making across sectors.  Ambassadors are actively helping Louisville become a city that supports health in all policies, people, places, and programs.  By leveraging their own platforms, ambassadors are leaders who are changing the way we think about health. They are individuals who look at their personal lives, workplaces, spiritual communities, and schools to find specific actions they can take to improve health in our shared city.

• Ambassadors are creating a health in all policies movement to build a well-grounded, long-term culture of health in Louisville.
• Ambassadors promote their own work and take inspiration from their fellow Ambassadors in their quest to support new ideas that will make Louisville a healthier place.

What is Health in All Policies? 

Health in All Policies is a collaborative approach to improving the health of all people by incorporating health considerations into decision-making across sectors and policy areas. It is a way to improve health outcomes for everyone by factoring health into all the decisions we make, both as individuals and as a community. Ambassadors for Health in All Policies make decisions through a lens of health – they consider how actions will affect people’s health and choose options that support health and wellbeing.

Student Health Ambassadors

Each year the Center for Healthy Air Water and Soil welcomes a new class Health Ambassadors to our network. Since joining the University of Louisville in 2018, the Center has focused on giving students opportunities to learn about Louisville, meet the people who make up the city's social fabric, and see first-hand how they can make their communities and networks healthier.  

University of Louisville Students

Student Health Ambassadors are undergraduate students from across the University of Louisville who are passionate about improving their community’s health, sustainably developing cities, and finding unique ways to collaborate between University departments.Student Health Ambassadors plan to take on health problems here in Louisville by learning, meditating, and implementing solutions. Nominations are open to any University of Louisville Student. If you're interested in learning more, contact us! 

Junior Achievement BizTown Students

In a 2019 partnership, the Center for Healthy Air Water and Soil and Junior Achievement of Kentuckiana have created a new job within JA's Sam Swope BizTown!  For the first time, the BizTown simulation will feature a Community Health Researcher job! Just like our team of researchers at the University of Louisville, this Community Health Researcher will observe the other citizens of BizTown, conduct research through a survey about health, and present their research findings. 

Sam Swope JA BizTown is a simulated city built for kids and run by kids. On the very first day of their very first jobs, students experience applying and interviewing for jobs, keeping a work schedule, managing personal budgets, and opening a business. JA BizTown is an invaluable experience that prepares children to participate successfully and responsibly in finance and business as an adult.

 Who Health Ambassadors Are

1. Students bring a renewed energy to sharing their stories of health and harmony with family and friends. Their quest to change the world is rarely weighed down by the bureaucracy that young or established professionals might carry.  Student Ambassadors know that the potential to make a difference in the health of any one person is as simple choosing to act on behalf of a cause that they care about.
2. Community Leaders support health in all policies; they advocate for city or corporate policies, they coordinate financial and operational support for initiatives such as Louisville Health Advisory Board projects, they volunteer their workspace as urban laboratories to discover best practices, and seek out opportunities for collaboration across sectors.
3. Corporate Leaders make health a priority at their workplaces by adopting actions and practices that improve employee health, such as serving healthy snacks during meetings or implementing stretch breaks or walking meetings. Improving health also includes making improvements to corporates fleets or buildings that decrease energy use or increase efficiency.
   

What Ambassadors Do

• Take specific actions to improve health in Louisville by examining their personal lives, workplaces, spiritual communities, and schools to find specific actions they can take to improve health in Louisville. This concept is introduced at the Ambassador orientation and encouraged in ongoing communications with Ambassadors.

• Amplify the news, successes, lessons learned, and the importance of the work they do with the Ambassador network and to the community-at-large via media opportunities coordinated by the Center.

History

Established in 2017, the Ambassador for Health in All Policies program recognizes those making decisions through the lens of health and encourages the practice to continue through an investment of resources and recognition.  As of 2018, fifty-nine individuals have been honored as Ambassadors Their backgrounds represent businesses, schools and philanthropic organizations around the city. These Health Ambassadors are students, doctors, entrepreneurs, artists, and poets who all work to make Louisville a healthier place to live.

In 2016, Louisville won a Culture of Health prize from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. This was a recognition of the work leaders in our city have done to ensure all residents have the opportunity to live longer, healthier, and more productive lives. The Ambassador program seeks to highlight individuals who have taken specific actions to support this goal.