Infusing health into regional planning: An example from southern appalachia

An unusual alliance has been forged between public health practitioners and planning professionals in East Tennessee. It began with collaborative planning for a “Walk to School” event over a decade ago, and progressively evolved to the eventual formal integration of community health as a key element of Knoxville's Regional Sustainable Communities Planning Grant, called Plan East Tennessee (PlanET). Along the way, these collaborators have gained valuable insight and appreciation for the social determinants of health. As a result, the PlanET initiative has been intentional about exploring and addressing issues of equity and access to opportunity, including these as core considerations throughout the planning process. This presentation will be one of three in a panel session highlighting examples where public health has been successfully incorporated into regional planning processes. Framed in the social and cultural context of southern Appalachia, this example will provide attendees with concrete information about how to initiate and build a mutually beneficial relationship between public health and planning, and how to leverage the skills and assets of both professions to address the social determinants of health.