The San Diego County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday received an update on the "Live Well San Diego" initiative, which is in its fifth year.
The meeting kicked off with a number of proclamations made in honor of multiple partners and agencies throughout the county that support the supervisors' goal of building better health, living safely and thriving. The supervisors recognized the Legal Aid Society, Channel 10 and Biocom for their work in support of their wellness initiative.
To date, there are 124 community and corporate partners on board with the five-year-old initiative, including 24 school districts and 10 cities throughout the county.
Last year, Supervisor Dianne Jacob challenged county staff to double their number of community partners, which they well exceeded this year.
The county is achieving far better results than the state and national averages, according to the county's Chief Administrative Officer Helen Robbins- Meyer.
Supervisor Ron Roberts said working in partnership with other organizations is what makes "Live Well San Diego" successful.
"We're recognizing 'Live Well' takes all of us working together to make progress," Roberts said. "Hopefully it will make us a much healthier community and that well-being will translate to much richer lives and richer satisfaction for the people who live them."
The county's health and wellness imitative uses 10 indicators to measure the impact of the collective actions by partners and the county on San Diego residents. Indicators include life expectancy, education, community involvement and income, among others.
Robbins-Meyer said the county has made progress in all indicators except for two.
As the program moves into its sixth year, the county plans to create a data access portal where indicator progress will be viewable, continue hosting signature events such as their blood pressure screenings hosted throughout the county on Valentine's Day and develop a best practices tool kit to promote health and wellness in the workplace.
While "Live Well San Diego" was originally adopted as a 10-year plan, Supervisor Greg Cox said he foresees the initiative continuing past the original deadline.
"Thriving is about helping people succeed in all levels of their life and it requires a lot of collaboration," Cox said. "In my years in local government I don't think I've seen an initiative that has had an impact like 'Live Well San Diego.' It really doesn't belong to the county anymore, it belongs to the region."
