The Latest in a Series of Outreach Efforts to Build Awareness that Health Happens in California Communities
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (January 23, 2012) – Today, there is a new addition to the Southwest Airline terminal at the Sacramento airport, a rather shocking statistical alert that notifies travelers that the average life span of nearby Stockton residents is 73 years, compared to the 88 year life span of Irvine residents – a 15 year difference.
It is the most recent in a series of public service ads surrounding the Health Happens Here campaign, launched in 2011 and dedicated to bringing about a new understanding of health in California as well as a shift in policy-making. Health Happens Here has community leaders and partners working to create a healthy California by practicing prevention and transforming neighborhoods to create environments that provide access to healthy choices and enable healthy lifestyles, all of which are essential to a stronger California.
“At The California Endowment, we recognize that health depends on much more than just doctors' offices and individual dieting and exercise routines,” said Dr. Robert K. Ross, president and CEO of The California Endowment. “Health happens where we live, learn and play, and this billboard helps us spread the message that together we can create healthy communities where one’s zip code doesn’t determine their life expectancy.”
An estimated 900,000 people per year will see the display, including state policymakers, while traveling through the Southwest terminal, in addition to over a million Californians already exposed to the campaign through nine newspaper ads placed in six counties throughout California and an animated short film placed on YouTube.
The newspaper alerts highlighted the importance of living in a healthy community with disparities in life expectancy and graduation rates; they also congratulated Governor Jerry Brown and other state leaders on successfully passing legislation and taking critical steps to make our schools and communities healthier. These ads were placed from October through December and helped drive an increase in awareness about Health Happens Here and the effort to create a healthier California where we live, learn and play.
The Endowment sent a holiday greeting, in the form of an email with a link to an animated short film placed on YouTube. The film received almost 820,000 views in less than three months and exemplified the current health of California and the changes we can make within our communities to create healthier neighborhoods and schools for ourselves and our children.
“We want our message to reach out to our fellow Californians and inspire not only awareness but change,” said Daniel Zingale, the Endowment’s Senior Vice President. “Our health is impacted by legislation and the current state of our schools, neighborhoods and prevention system, and by working together we can make these places safe and healthy for everyone.”
Health Happens Here will continue to create opportunities for increased awareness of the current health situation in California and community roles that will help bring about change for a stronger, healthier California.
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