Minneapolis Community Health Trends--Kimberly Pellegrini

Public Health Trends in Minneapolis, Minnesota

Kimberly Pellegrini

            This past week, I talked about public health trends in Minneapolis, Minnesota with Sarah Stewart, an employee in the Minneapolis Healthy Living Department. I'm not actually from Minneapolis, I'm from Utah County, but I chose to focus on Minneapolis because the city is home to my favorite baseball team, the Minnesota Twins. The top five public health concerns in Minneapolis right now are mental well-being, early childhood health, early childhood environments, youth violence, and youth sexual activity.

            The first health issue we discussed was mental well-being. Minneapolis Health Department is implementing a multi-point plan called the Community Health Improvement Plan. In the mental well-being portion of this plan, community and social awareness are in focus. Minneapolis wants to create a sense of connectedness between everyone that lives there. They want everyone to have access to all the resources available, such as social services.

            The second health issue that she brought up was early childhood health. This is another part of the Community Health Improvement Plan. Because Minneapolis is a city, there are many children who come from poor living conditions. Food that their parents can afford is usually lower quality and "junk" food. Minneapolis Health Department is working on having nutritious foods be available to children through their schools or local markets. Again, this projects is about access to healthy things.

            The third health issue that we talked about was early childhood environments. It is a huge priority for the city of Minneapolis to keep their children healthy and safe. They are working to make sure that every child can get vaccines and health care. They are also trying to make sure that every child is safe in his or her home. This is a huge goal for Minneapolis, with many points and goals inside of it.

            The fourth health issue is youth violence. Again, this is a unique health issue that is a big deal in the urban area. Gangs and other youth violence are a common part of life in Minneapolis. The mayor's office is specifically starting a program centered on youth who have been in violent or dangerous situations. They are connecting each youth with a trusted adult so that the youth has a role model and someone to talk to. Minneapolis does not want their city to continue with its strong "culture of violence" among youth.

            Finally, the fifth large health issue is teenage sexual activity. Unlike Utah County, instead of preaching abstinence, Minneapolis focuses on making sure that its teens have safe sex if they are sexually active. They are reaching out to schools more to teach condom use and provide information where teens can get birth control. They want teens to take advantage of the health care system when it comes to their sexual activities.

            Overall, this was a really great experience for me. I loved talking to a health professional, and it was really interesting to see how their health focuses varied greatly from the focuses in Utah County.