Community Health Priorities

Community Health Priorities (CHP) is a project of the Northwest Health Foundation. Our goal is to engage people all over the state to articulate a vision of a healthier life for everyone, and then develop policies that help us achieve that vision. On this site you can participate in surveys, share feedback, read news stories about related issues, learn about grant opportunities for your neighborhood organizations, get more information on how to become involved or help mobilize your community and ensure that its voice will be heard. Join the conversation!

“Public Health Matters” Video Contest: Enter Here

Develop a 30-second public service advertisement (PSA) for public health and you could win $3,000 and coffee with Gus Van Sant.

Apply for Grant Here

From the Conversation

Tobacco and Obesity Prevention: Now competing for limited funding?

In a recent New England Journal of Medicine editorial, Steven A. Schroeder, M.D., and Kenneth E. Warner, Ph.D.write that, at a time when health funding sources are focusing efforts and dollars on obesity prevention, smoking remains by far the most ...Read more >

Portland Public Schools and Physical Education: Progress but not total victory

Thanks in large part to the hard work of the Coalition to Save Portland PE, particularly the indefatigable Mary Lou Hennrich, Portland Public Schools will not completely gut its physical education programs in spite of upcoming budget restraints. ...Read more >

Diabetes: What’s rice got to do with it?

A recent study in the Archives of Internal Medicine makes a direct connection between the consumption of white v. brown rice and the risk of developing diabetes. Those who eat white rice on a regular basis — five or more times a week — are ...Read more >

Another link to obesity: Abuse

New research has just been published which shows that children of abused women are at increased risk of being obese. The study of 1,595 boys and girls showed that children whose mothers were victims of abuse were more likely to be obese by age 5 ...Read more >

Public Health: “The causes of the causes of death”

In the past, we’ve sent out props to Dick Jackson, (Dr. Richard Jackson, Chair of Environmental Health Sciences at UCLA), and the current issue of Fast Company magazine offers another slew of quotations and observations from this great champion ...Read more >

Oregonians Speak:

Good Health: How Can we Make a Difference?

Kim Curley, Community Outreach Manager of Commute Options for Central Oregon

Good Health: How Can we Make a Difference?: Our transportation choices can have a huge effect on our community’s quality of life. And it’s not hard to see that when we’re given more options, it’s easier to make healthier choices. When more people park their cars and walk, bike or ...Read more >

About The Project

How can we all achieve a healthy life? What will it take for all Oregonians to be able to live in environments that sustain us and promote our well-being — where we can all breathe clean air, drink pure water and eat nourishing food — and where it’s safe for each and every one of us to walk or ride a bike? What must we do for good preventive care to be available to everyone in all corners of the state?

Community Health Priorities (CHP) is a project of the Northwest Health Foundation, based on work completed in partnership with the Oregon Public Health Division and the Oregon Health Policy Commission. Our goal is to engage people all over the state to articulate a vision of a healthier life for everyone, and then develop policies that help us achieve that vision.

...Read more about the project >