1. Check-in - quick process, no comments
2. Roles – Andrea will facilitate, Vyv will keep time, Helena will scribe, Jim will take notes.
3. Agenda review – Agenda sent out was for 1.5 hours (Helena forgot) but group agreed to go the full 2 hours. Alternate agenda adopted without changes.
4. Agenda items:

A. Guided discussion: Basics of Healthy Communities - discussion led by Mary Jane Bush

Readings: Basics from Public Health (School Articles are tabled until new school people can join in the discussion - August meeting: Schools as Catalyst and Schools as Centers of HC’s.

• Broad definition of health
• broad definition of community
• shared vision for community values
• Address quality for life for everyone
• Diverse citizen participation
• Focus on systems changes
• Build capacity using local assets
• Benchmark and measure progress on outcomes

Also see handout from MJ Bush - from Bar Harbor symposium on Network of Healthy Communities, with similar principles evolving from Maine Network, Montpelier Vt. Coalition, and Minckler book.

Building synergy on single issue coalitions to broader definition of health means finding issues that are important to local population. Provide support for groups rising up in the community. There’s a lot of resources and talent there. Most groups are willing to work together and not reinvent the wheel. We need to hear voices from all areas: cultural, emotional, spiritual, physical, etc.

The planning perspective is long term (>20 years.) Most people are interested in "tailpipe" solutions, fixes that have quick results. Long range goals may not be motivators. It’s also a challenge to talk to people about programs: abstract vs. concrete. What are the words that resonate with the community?? Immediate issues can be a catalyst for broadening activity. You need a lightning bolt to empower the community. Takes a lot of energy and relationship building.

School Wellness activities are compatible with HC principles, and they are actively looking for ways to integrate with community. However, the broad definition of health is not always clear. Health may be subjective or relative. People may only know their current situation and think that is normal. We need visual examples to show people what it looks like, like Burlington VT. "Quality of life" may be the term that communities respond to.

This is the opportunity to build community consensus, which is required for systemic change. Healthy Communities is a mechanism to pull information together from various action groups. Coalition membership should represent the fabric of the community. Organizations working in categorical programs often impose mandates from state or national government.

Analogy of the boat: The CG tells you what safety equipment and rules are required (the state,) the owners design and build the boat (the community,) and we are the captains and navigators, at least until the owners (community) want to take over. Just to make things more interesting, other boats keep sailing by (established community groups, social service agencies & organizations,) and sometimes we need to get into their boat with them!

This group didn’t have trouble with the broad definition of health, but resisted being molded into a "coalition." Even today, they might not say they were part of a "Healthy Communities Coalition." Kim has been able to sustain efforts using smaller focused groups, and getting them all together once a year. People also don’t have the same definition of "coalition," and may see that word and "committee" as representing a professional and time consuming activity.

Kim uses these principles: 1. Programs are sustained by residents in towns, and 2. People identify the issues they work on. Surprisingly, kids and adults issues are similar. New linkages are formed all the time, often with help from Kim. Look for connecting points. Facilitate and bring together. Some groups want a leader, some a facilitator, some a worker-bee.

We need to figure out how we fit in and where to go from here. Sometimes it’s overwhelming. Moving from the abstract to the concrete is difficult. Barbara has a great approach – going to people where they are, as opposed to creating something artificial. Progress is slow, but we are moving. It will happen! We need to take a deep breath, slow down, and focus on what we can do.

After a two hour meeting and reaching tentative consensus, some of the members met with other directors, and realized that we hadn’t thought it completely through. The initial recommendation would be to limit voting membership to "Healthy Community Coalitions," either existing or developing. However, some of us are reluctant to label our emerging coalitions until the people of our communities make that decision. We are personally committed to the HC principles. We realized we were dealing with a continuum of options:

Discussion: If the group gets too large, the process will bog down. Group needs to proceed slowly. Should not rush into a new level of organization. Group may not be ready to bring in other organizations, or to formalize voting more than the consensus method we have been using. We want to be Healthy Community Coalitions, but the group may fall apart if we get ahead of our communities and insist on labeling them. Jim suggested that there be some means for gaining the perspective of would-be partners, possibly by inviting guest speakers to the meetings. Mary Jane offered that you may not be successful without pulling together community partners in conducting the assessment. Community ownership is critical for success.

- Continue current membership until we feel a need to change

- introduce other perspectives through guest presentations and possible annual health summit

Discussion of budgets was deferred until there are recommendations from the Education Committee. Three service areas met three times and developed a joint workplan. These elements need to be reviewed by the education and research committees. ACTION: Helena gave a copy to Iris and to Jim. Refer budget back to Education Committee for recommendations.

Barbara proposed we establish a policy and advocacy committee. It will be needed in the fall when all the new legislative initiatives emerge. We could be developing some proactive recommendations.

Proposal with consensus:

Establish policy and advocacy committee. Members: Barbara Peppey, Vyvyenne Ritchie, Mary Jane Bush. ACTION: P/A Committee will establish meeting schedule and agenda.

Jim reported that the committee has met once, and will meet again on July 12. Research goals include:

• baseline, including how we differ from state, peer, national, and Healthy People 2010 goals.
• Meeting state requirements,
• Supporting participatory research without extensive analysis,
• Determining research protocols for any primary research,
• Program evaluation.

In addition, we need to monitor how the HCPC time is used, and divided between service sites and county-wide activities. It’s time to start thinking about what we can measure to show results. Surrogate measures wil have to be used in lieu of long-term outcomes. Blue Hill is using a DuPuy (?) study, which may be of interest. ACTION: Request of Andrea to find out what data the state will be providing, to avoid us duplicating.

• Healthy Peninsula reports that Colleen is now working 10 hours a week with them as tobacco technical consultant. They have hired another school health coordinator, who will start in August.
• Colleen reports that state funds were approved for tobacco cessation medications, and the start of a training program for tobacco specialists.
• Coastal Hancock reports they have a youth advocacy program (YAP) recruiter, and are looking for 2 more, hopefully before the July 25 meeting.
• We congratulate recipients of recent awards:

1. Review meeting record – Jim clarified some points in his notes.
2. Next Meeting - August 8th 12:00 - 2:00 Health Link - Guided discussion on two articles in Public Health Journal: Schools as Catalyst and Schools as Hub of Healthy Communities. Plus the usual agenda: organizational, committee reports, and minute memos.
3. Evaluate the meeting – Format seems to be working. Discussion, sharing, confusion, progress all appreciated. Working together well.