Austin City Council

Austin Transportation Department; Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority (CapMetro); Central Health; Integral Care; Seton Healthcare Family; St. David’s Foundation; Travis County Health and Human Services; The University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School; The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Public Health in Austin

This plan provides the City of Austin and Travis County with a framework to comprehensively improve the health and well-being of residents in upcoming years. In order to develop the plan, Austin Department of Public Health conducted a Community Health Assessment, which consisted of focus groups, community interviews, and key informant meetings, to develop a comprehensive plan to address the health-related experiences and challenges faced by residents in the two counties. Utilizing the social determinants of health framework, the plan addresses four priority areas: access to and affordability of health care; chronic disease; sexual health; and stress, mental health, and well-being. Further, the plan identified various challenges related to food, such as lack of access to healthy and culturally appropriate food, food marketing, and lack of healthy food retailers. These challenges were primarily addressed in the chronic disease priority area, in which specific action items include: the development of nutrition classes for residents; the implementation of workshops and other educational strategies in schools, community centers, and after-school programs; the creation of a healthy marketing campaign by local organizations; the conversion of city space to increase green areas and other recreational facilities; supporting ongoing efforts to increase transportation access to healthy retail sites; and ongoing data collection to more fully understand the assets and adaptations utilized by residents to obtain healthy and culturally appropriate food.