Over the past few years, our valley has been abuzz with talk of becoming a blue zones community. The wait is now over and a coordinated effort throughout Riverside County is now underway, including both Palm Springs and Coachella, to implement policy and programs aimed at increasing the health and longevity of local residents.
In our May/June 2023 edition, we shared the Blue Zones Project’s progress in assessing the viability of bringing their proven formula to our region. Their assessment proposals have been approved and over the past couple of months, the national team has moved into their foundation phase to build local teams and develop a blueprint for successful implementation.
Blue Zones is an initiative that employs evidence-based methods to help people live better and longer. The principles are based on the work of Dan Buettner, a National Geographic Explorer and Fellow, who set out to discover the places in the world where people live the longest and the healthiest (the blue zones regions) and how they got there. He narrowed it down to five: Okinawa, Japan; Sardinia, Italy; Nicoya, Costa Rica; Ikaria, Greece, and Loma Linda, California. Buettner documented his findings in the New York Times bestseller, The Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer From the People Who’ve Lived the Longest and later the 2023 Netflix docuseries “Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones.”
Buettner and his team of researchers surmised that their common longevity was due to nine shared lifestyle habits which they dubbed the Power 9®: Move Naturally, Purpose, Downshift, 80% Rule, Plant Slant, Wine at Five, Positive Pack, Loved Ones First and Belong. The most important discovery was that people in the blue zone regions were not trying to do these things; their surroundings and cultures nudged them into these healthy behaviors as they moved throughout their days.
The Blue Zones Power 9®
From their research, they created Blue Zones Project (BZP), a community-wide initiative that enhances health through environmental and lifestyle changes. Over 20 years, they have successfully teamed with 75 cities across the U.S. including SoCal’s Beach Cities (Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach, and Hermosa Beach) whose focus on healthy living has enhanced residents’ happiness and overall well-being and saved the region millions. A recent Gallup news release (Aug. 2024) states that the region has saved an estimated $182 million annually in health care expenses and points to the BZP’s involvement as an important aspect of these results.1
What can we expect?
In August, we sat down with the BZP’s national team to review their timeline and brainstorm prospective leaders from within our community. Their goal is to hire executive directors for each city in the next couple of months and continue with the blueprint planning phase through March 2025. Preliminary planning has already taken place as community stakeholders attended workshops over the past several years to identify objectives and aspirations for improved health specific to their region, and to develop criteria around people, places and policy.
In April of next year, the transformation phase is slated to begin as a community-wide movement to change surroundings, systems, policy, accessibility and behaviors through access, education and involvement. This effort will continue for three years through 2028.
The transformation phase is when we will start to see BZP offerings in our daily lives through resources, workshops, programs, cooking classes, gatherings, presentations, social support systems referred to as “moais” (pronounced MO-i), and more.
“Many think that the Blue Zones Project model is all about diet and exercise, but it’s so much more,” says Vice President of Operations Mark Ishikawa. “It’s about creating a sense of community, along with purpose and a sense of belonging for the members of that community.”
Funding: investing in wellness
Following the COVID-19 pandemic, Riverside University Health System – Public Health (RUHS-PH) was looking for evidence-based programs that would improve overall health and wellness of Riverside County residents.
“We were aiming for quick and tangible results that would help us see the most current health landscape, not necessarily something that would show up years later,” says Shunling Tsang, MD, deputy public health officer for Riverside County.
It was during this process that they discovered Blue Zones. “Blue Zones is about improving community health, addressing the specific needs of each community and advancing health equity, which is the foundation of what public health does,” explained Dr. Tsang. “We were intrigued by their data and results from other communities that demonstrated their return on investment and sustainability after the work was completed.”
RUHS-PH identified target regions within the county to participate; in addition to Palm Springs and Coachella, they are Riverside, Banning and the unincorporated community of Mead Valley. The County of Riverside and RUHS–PH are helping fund the project, along with sponsors Inland Empire Health Plan (IEHP), IEHP Foundation, Kaiser Permanente and Molina Healthcare, which are underwriting the majority of the cost.
Over the next five years, RUHS–PH, the sponsors and participating communities will drive the project in partnership with BZP. The public-private partnership between the county and its sponsors is important, they add, because it ensures that the project’s objectives and metrics are identified appropriately for each community.
“It also provides added assurance that our efforts move forward through a coordinated approach, and to hold the Blue Zones Project team accountable,” notes Tsang.
The remaining funding comes from participating communities and was used to close the gap to move the project forward.
“It’s very important that the cities have a seat at the table,” says Tsang. “They are the experts on their community’s needs, strategic vision, and how we can best engage with their residents. Moving forward, the cities will be especially important as they begin to implement programs and policies to improve overall community well-being by addressing the root causes of ill health, resident needs and health equity.”
Desert Health will feature a new Blue Zones Project column in each edition to keep readers up to date on progress and offerings as they develop. Organizations and individuals who would like to get involved in the local efforts can contact Project Coordinator Jade Freed directly at [email protected].
Lauren Del Sarto is founder/publisher of Desert Health and can be reached at [email protected].
Reference: 1) https://news.gallup.com/poll/648008/good-health-saves-california-beach-cities-millions-yearly.aspx
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