The Journey has started…
Our purpose is to serve as a Health and Wellness Advocate for YOU, a Community of Communities in Northwest Wisconsin. We must bring community leaders and stakeholder groups together to find Win-Win solutions that attack the root causes of chronic disease. We’re beginning by having Blue Zones™ assess our local community living environments, develop a plan to make a difference, and work together to Make the Healthy Choice, the Easy Choice!
The Challenges We Face
Health care costs are growing at an alarming rate. And it’s bankrupting us!
The rapidly growing cost of health insurance premiums are putting significant stress on family budgets, organizational group health plans, and government budgets. Our Federal budget deficits are completely out of control and health care costs are a major contributor. Currently, 30% of Americans work another job just to pay for health insurance. Over 63% of Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcies are caused by medical debt. Shockingly, 70% of those affected had health insurance.
Government policies have failed… The healthy choice is no longer the easy choice.
America is plagued with Chronic Disease, which are primarily driven by unhealthy lifestyle choices. We spend twice as much on healthcare per person than other advanced nations, and yet are getting far worse health outcomes. Of the $5 trillion dollars the United States spends annually on healthcare, 75-80% are attributed to Chronic Disease. Let’s solve this problem by empowering and incentivizing our citizens to make healthier lifestyle choices.
Poor food delivery systems have created unhealthy Americans.
The United States has the highest obesity rate in the world at 42% and it’s getting worse. 68% of our citizens are overweight for their relative body structure. 77% of our military aged youth can’t pass an armed services physical. We have record child obesity. And the poor and disadvantaged are impacted the most. Organic whole foods cost more and take time to prepare. Some people want to blame the weight struggles of individuals on a lack of personal willpower. We believe it's the system in which we live. How do we partner with the food industry, farming operations and restaurant businesses to find mutually beneficial solutions?
Build health and wellness into the flow of community life. Let’s make the healthy choice the easy choice — starting now.
The Solution
12 Big Ideas for a Shared Community Vision
These initiatives form the framework for a unified community vision. Our Dream — Northwest Wisconsin coming together as a Community of Communities to lead the Nation in a health and wellness renaissance. Today, an estimated 75–80% of our nation’s $5 trillion in annual healthcare expenditures stem from chronic disease — largely driven by poor lifestyle choices. We must pursue a quest to confront chronic disease at its source… empowering and incentivizing our community members to make consistently healthy lifestyle choices to significantly reduce the burden of preventable disease.
Unite community leaders and stakeholders to identify shared health challenges and Build Health & Wellness into the Flow of Life.
Leader-Driven Health Advocacy
Compelling Shared Vision
Create a Community of Communities working together to lead the Nation in a Health and Wellness Renaissance.
Whole-Person Wellness
Advance health through the 6 Pillars of Lifestyle Medicine and define what it truly means to be a healthy person.
Community Biometric Database
Develop a comprehensive system to track health outcomes and measure progress across the community.
Influential Social Organizations
Empower individuals with the knowledge and support to make better lifestyle choices and improve health outcomes.
Supportive Living Environments
Design community initiatives that make the healthy choice the easy choice, inspired by Blue Zones principles.
Promote access to nutritious meal options by connecting regenerative agriculture to local food systems.
Healthy Food Pathways
Transparent Healthcare Pricing
Use local health care purchasing power to create win-win pricing models that are mutually beneficial for both health care providers and community members.
Optimized Healthcare Delivery
Strengthen community healthcare delivery systems to ensure accessibility, efficiency, and better outcomes.
Educational System Alignment
Integrate health and wellness education into our schools, aligning curriculum and culture to support lifelong wellbeing.
Grassroots Political Support
Consistent, open communication with our elected representatives on community health and wellness outcomes.
Community Wellness Nudging
Use strategic, ongoing communications to create new social norms that embed health and wellness into our culture.
Community Resources
Our community has the tools, talent, and desire to take on Chronic Disease and help our citizens live longer, happier, more fulfilling lives.
Forward-thinking Business Leaders
World-class Healthcare
Chippewa Valley Hospital Cooperative CVHC.org
UW-Eau Claire Curriculum & Undergraduate Research
A Regenerative Farming Community
A Strong Faith-based Network
We’re not waiting for top-down change. We’re building a grassroots movement — right here, together.
EMPOWER
Let’s start with a community vision.
Build health and wellness into the flow of community life!
We’ll chart a path forward, using 6 Pillars of Lifestyle medicine plus Purposeful Living as a model to promote whole person care.
We’ll educate through influential social organizations, and build a digital home base packed with tools, stories, and local resources.
We’ll launch community symposiums and create an annual Health and Wellness Convention at the Sonnentag Center — to learn, grow, and unite.
PIONEER
We’ll break new ground by helping people make real, lasting lifestyle changes.
We’ll build a community biomarker database to measure progress and accountability.
We’ll help mobilize community resources to build the innovative Chippewa Valley Health Cooperative Hospital.
We’ll partner Blue Zones™, local, state, and national officials to assess and design healthy environments that support real change.
And we’ll collaborate on strengthening and optimizing our healthcare delivery system — starting with Direct Primary Care — with willing participants at the table.
INSPIRE
This is more than a plan — it’s a movement.
We’ll rally the community to collaborate, innovate, and take ownership of health outcomes.
With smart marketing and social media, we’ll keep health and wellness top of mind all year long.
We’ll track our progress, share it openly, and celebrate the wins — big and small.
And we’ll back it all with peer-reviewed studies, proving what’s possible when a community comes together.
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”
— Margaret Mead
