HonorHealth and City of Scottsdale work together to transform health and well-being of Scottsdale
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. JANUARY 07, 2022 - HonorHealth, a leading Valley healthcare system serving 1.6 million people in the greater Phoenix and Scottsdale area, and the City of Scottsdale have announced today that they are working with Blue Zones® to bring its expertise in well-being innovation to Scottsdale.
Blue Zones is a community-led well-being improvement initiative designed to make healthy choices easier through permanent changes to a city's environment, policy and social networks. Backed by research of the original blue zones—rare longevity hotspots where people thrive into their 100s— Blue Zones helps communities transform by making lasting changes to the environment in which people live, work and play. The kickoff of the partnership includes a health readiness assessment to determine if the Scottsdale community can become a “blue zone” or a place where the entire community can live significantly longer, healthier and more active lives.
“HonorHealth has served the communities of Scottsdale and Phoenix for more than nearly 100 years, and we understand that our communities need more than just high quality healthcare to be truly healthy,” said Todd LaPorte, CEO of HonorHealth. “Taking part in the global movement proven to improve health and well-being with other like-minded organizations further solidifies our commitment to go beyond the traditional expectations of a healthcare system and furthering our mission to improve the health and well-being of those we serve.”
By focusing on making permanent and semi-permanent changes to the Life Radius—the area close to home where people spend 90% of their lives—Blue Zones has helped hundreds of communities achieve measurable improvements in its residents’ health.
“Scottsdale has long been recognized as an environmental leader and is committed to enhancing the lives of its residents and future generations,” said David D. Ortega, mayor of Scottsdale. “It’s a natural progression to conduct this work with our shared commitment for more than 50 years of promoting health and wellness with HonorHealth.”
HonorHealth and City of Scottsdale is bringing together civic, business and community leaders to work with Blue Zones to begin an intensive multi-day engagement with national experts to identify and validate the key characteristics necessary to bring a Blue Zones transformation to Scottsdale. The City of Scottsdale Blue Zones site visit will take place March 2, 2022. The public is welcome to attend the event virtually by registering here.
Scottsdale is the first city in Arizona to conduct an assessment with Blue Zones and will receive an assessment report indicating readiness and feasibility for a Blue Zone Transformation. Once the assessment has concluded and been presented, the next phase will include steps for the implementation proposal and process to make Scottsdale an official “blue zone.” The focus will be on sustainable, long-term environmental changes that strengthen social ties, enhance surroundings and sharpen living policies to help people live healthier, longer and better lives.