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Focus Areas
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Community
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The Steps Program recognizes that health is the product of multiple levels of influence. Steps uses the Socio-Ecological Model in its programming; the model looks at all factors that influence an individual’s behavior including the individual, interpersonal relationships such as family and friends, organizational elements such as social institutions, the community, and public policy.
Individuals are ultimately responsible for the lifestyles choices they make related to health. However, the systems that surround the individual impact and determine his or her behavior choices.
For this reason, the Steps Program works with community, school, workplace and healthcare settings. By focusing on these settings, Steps programs focus on the many levels of influence on an individual’s health.
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Creating and sustaining a healthy community requires an environment that supports healthy choices. For example, people are more likely to walk if there are safe, well-lighted sidewalks or paths. And people are more likely to choose healthy foods if markets are in their neighborhood and if menus, vending machines and concessions include healthy options. In addition, exposure to secondhand smoke can be reduced by policies that limit smoking in public places.
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Steps community activities focus on providing information to residents about nutrition, physical activity, diabetes, and asthma and programming for these areas in association with existing community organizations.
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Events Calendar
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no upcoming
events
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Minnesota
