Walking with their Best Foot Forward to Help Long Islanders Get Healthy
April 7, 2014 (Hauppauge, NY) - These are the feet of some of the dynamic members of the Long Island Health Collaborative (LIHC). As members of LIHC, they represent all 24 hospitals on Long Island, dozens of community-based organizations, schools and colleges, and the two county health departments. Members of the LIHC coincidentally held their meeting on National Walk Day, April 2, 2014, and decided to put their words into action. Promoting walking as a way to increase physical activity is one component of the Collaborative's work. The group will soon collect data on Long Islanders’ ability to manage their chronic diseases to determine if, over time, healthier behaviors, such as walking, are adopted. The goal is to obtain a “walking” snapshot of the collective health of Long Islanders. The management and prevention of chronic diseases, especially those related to obesity, as well as issues surrounding mental health/substance abuse treatment and prevention is the focus of the Collaborative. A website - http://nshc.org/long-island-health-collaborative/ - is already up and running. The site connects Long Islanders to the health and social services they need to stay well and/or get well. Follow the collaborative on Twitter @ligethealthy and walk with us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LIHealthCollab/