Healthy Austin
A person’s health and ability to make healthy choices is directly affected by where they work, live, learn and play.
The Healthy Austin Program seeks to improve community health and addresses how health risk factors are directly affected by our surroundings. This priority program works to address key elements of community health including physical activity, recreation, access to healthy foods, strengthening the local food system, tobacco-free living, access to healthcare, and improving the built environment to support healthy living.
Progress
Program Champion:
Cassandra DeLeon
Departments: Austin Public Health, Economic Development, Neighborhood Housing & Community Development, Office of Sustainability, Parks and Recreation, Planning and Zoning, Austin Transportation
COVID-19 Pandemic Response
The COVID-19 response for Austin/Travis County has been guided by unified command of both the City and County. The response is multifaceted and has evolved since the initial Stay Home Work Safe orders were put in place on March 21, 2020. The Health Authority has convened an infectious disease expert advisory panel to inform infection control policies. The response includes Medical Operations and Social Services Branches with multiple task forces to ensure the needs of the highest risk and most vulnerable populations to COVID-19 are met. Additionally, the emergency response organizational structure includes an equity officer as part of the Incident Command Staff.
The overall response provides the following services and support to the community:
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Online platform and call center for individuals to access free testing.
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Testing and coordination of testing across the health care system, including testing in high-risk settings such as known clusters where three or more positive cases have been identified.
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Tracking spread of COVID-19 through case investigation and contact tracing.
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Support to individuals that have tested positive for COVID-19 or have had a high-risk exposure.
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Tracking of hospital capacity.
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Food distribution to community.
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Support to child care centers for essential workers.
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Support to nursing homes and long term care facilities.
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Protective lodging for individuals experiencing homelessness to reduce their risk of COVID-19 exposure.
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Lodging for individuals that need to self-isolate but cannot effectively self-isolate at home.
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Support to priority populations to meet specific needs such as language access, transportation, access to social services such as Women Infant and Children programs, distribution of care packages that include food, hygiene, and protective supplies, and COVID-19 information.
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Outreach to the faith-based community.
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Coordinated media messaging that is culturally and linguistically appropriate.
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With assistance from non-profit partners, distributed $25M in Relief in a State of Emergency (RISE) funding to provide direct relief and direct financial assistance for vulnerable populations.
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Partnering with Austin and Del Valle Independent School districts, provided over $3M to provide meals for caregivers.
Fresh Food Accessibility
Austin Public Health contracted with Farmshare Austin to provide over 200 mobile market and delivery days for fresh fruits and vegetables, resulting in over 4000 customer encounters. Sustainable Food Center provided nutrition education, recipe sampling, and expanded outreach.
Farmers Markets permitted to continue operating during the Stay at Home-Work Safe Order because they are an important source of local food, providing locally produced foods while following social distancing guidelines. Beyond the COVID-19 response, there are opportunities to increase the number of farmers markets on parkland through partnerships that co-locate services
Community gardens on City-owned land have remained open because food cultivation is an essential activity. The Community Gardens Program offered supplemental support to gardens on City-owned land (parkland and land owned by other city departments). Seeds, seedlings, compost and mulch were offered to the community gardens to help increase food production. The Community Gardens Program also partnered with the Texas AgriLife Extension Service to help distribute their vegetable seeds intended for the cancelled East Austin Garden Fair.
Tobacco Free Environments
City of Austin updated the Minors Access to Tobacco ordinance to reflect new federal and state regulations. The revisions increased the definition of minors to a person under 21 years of age. Austin Public Health continues to work with City of Austin Departments to support tobacco free campus policies. City Hall recently went tobacco free in October 2019.
APH implemented its first media campaign to address e-cigarettes/vaping reaching over 5 million impressions.
Active and Healthy Lifestyles
The Colony Park/Lakeside Neighborhood Association and the City of Austin held a ribbon cutting ceremony for the new Colony Park District Park on March 8, 2020. The park construction was approved by City Council in 2014.
Began development of first Austin/Travis County Active Living Plan. Plan is being developed with funding support from Texas Department of State Health Services.
Commission on Seniors and LBJ School of Public Affairs hosted a Symposium "Age-Friendly Austin: Building an Intergenerational Metropolis" on November 16, 2019 at the City of Austin City Central Library as part of the Gerontological Society of America conference. More than 40 attendees, including guests from as far as Taiwan and the U.K. were in attendance. Additionally, the Symposium and City of Austin Age Friendly Action Plan was highlighted in Gerontology News which has a viewership of more than 5,500.
Active Transportation Infrastructure
The Active Transportation and Street Design Division (ATSD) completed over 25 miles of new and improved bicycle and trail facilities, including over 5 miles of protected bikeways. ATSD and Austin Transportation Department’s Parking Enterprise Division greatly improved the Bike Parking Program, leading to significant maintenance improvements to bike parking and the installation of 35 new bike racks in the public right of way.
Launched the Contraflow Transit Lane project on Guadalupe Street, which involved a partnership between Active Transportation, the Public Works Department and Capital Metro, to accomplish a Zach Scott Street two-way protected bikeway, which includes the city’s first completely protected intersection for active transportation users at Zach Scott Street and Berkman Drive.
The Smart Trips Austin program is designed to help Austinites find transportation solutions that work for their everyday trips by promoting bicycling, walking, riding the bus, carpooling, or a micromobility option, such as scooters. In 2019, the Smart Trips Austin program reached 25,251 households living in the Eastern Crescent. Respondents reported driving alone less often following the program. Respondents who reported driving alone “all of time” decreased from 18% to 14%. The combined mode share for walking, carpooling, ride-hailing, and other (e.g. moped, skateboard) increased 12 percentage points. More than three-quarters of post-program survey respondents (78%) reported feeling more aware of transportation options in Austin because of the program. Check out the story map from the 2019 program.
The City of Austin’s Commute Connections program helps City employees understand their sustainable commute options and take action to reduce their drive-alone work trips, especially during peak travel times. The ultimate goal is to minimize the impact these commutes have on traffic congestion and air quality in our region. To promote active commuting, employees can receive a free annual bikeshare membership with B-cycle and an unlimited transit pass with Capital Metro; some City offices have e-bikes available for employees to use for midday work trips. Smart Commute Rewards is the incentive arm of Commute Connections and encourages employees to adopt a commute habit that incorporates sustainable travel by offering various incentives. The Administrative Leave Program, which runs for six-month periods throughout the year, offers employees time off for taking and logging sustainable trips. A total of 1,226 City employees participated in the first six month period.
Challenges
Maintaining a population where all Austinites are able to achieve optimal health requires that health implications are considered in all aspects of city business. As the city continues to grow and develop there are several factors that could present challenges. Data limitations may mask burden of disease among at risk populations and may reduce the ability to demonstrate immediate success of programming. Additionally, there are many great partners that are focused on health. Ongoing coordination is important to ensure health-focused resources and programming are community informed and that all partners are engaged to maximize our collective efforts. These are our more immediate challenges:
CHALLENGES
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Garnering and sustaining resources
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Demonstrating short term progress
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Coordination with many health focused initiatives
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Breaking through silos
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Assuring that programs and health-related initiatives serve the most vulnerable populations
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Navigating new processes and expectations with City land leases
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Understanding how to identify and create data sets that are comparable across, county, region, etc.