LVHN and the City of Allentown Launch Blue Zones Activate

Lehigh Valley Health Network (LVHN) partnered with the City of Allentown to launch Blue Zones Activate, a comprehensive initiative that uses an evidence-based approach to make healthy choices easier in all the places people spend the most time.

Blue Zones Project takes a unique systematic approach to improving well-being, focusing on the Life Radius® – the area close to home where most Americans spend 90% of their lives.

Backed by research of the original blue zones – rare longevity hotspots where people thrive into their 100s – Blue Zones Project helps transform communities by making lasting changes to the environment in which people live, work and play so that the healthy choice is the easy choice. Instead of focusing on just individual behavioral change, Blue Zones Project helps communities make permanent changes to systems and surroundings so it’s easier for residents to eat wisely, move naturally and connect more with others throughout their day.

Blue Zones Project takes a unique systematic approach to improving well-being, focusing on the Life Radius® – the area close to home where most Americans spend 90% of their lives. By improving the settings where people routinely spend their time, it’s easier to make healthy choices and adopt healthier behaviors as a community.

Blue Zones Project transformations have been able to dramatically improve overall population health and well-being, raise employee and student productivity, and boost economic vitality and development in cities, counties and states across America. And now, it’s Allentown’s turn to explore this opportunity.

“We are excited to work with leaders and people in Allentown who are committed to building a community that supports healthy living,” says Blue Zones CEO Ben Leedle. “Allentown leaders are investing in well-being at the community level, which brings exponential returns as research shows improved well-being leads to healthier and happier residents, a more productive and higher-performing workforce for adults, and better student achievement for schools, colleges, and universities.”

On Tuesday, June 20, Allentown took the first step toward becoming a Blue Zones Community with the kick-off of the Readiness Assessment. During this in-depth assessment, Blue Zones global experts collaborated with community leaders in an intensive multi-day engagement to identify and validate characteristics necessary to bring a Blue Zones Project transformation to Allentown.

This phase will help determine how Blue Zones Project can amplify the good work already occurring in the community and leverage existing plans to lift up and increase the well-being of all residents and stakeholders in Allentown.

During this assessment, Blue Zones Project mobilized local leaders and residents to help with evaluating the community’s current state of well-being to identify Allentown’s highest priority strengths, challenges and opportunities. Blue Zones project will use the information it gathered to produce a plan for community transformation, which will be presented to Allentown in September.

Following the site assessment, Blue Zones Project will provide an assessment report indicating readiness and feasibility for a Blue Zones Transformation focused on sustainable, long-term environmental changes that strengthen social ties, enhance surroundings and sharpen living policies in Allentown to help people live healthier, better and longer lives as well as reduce health care costs and increase worker productivity.