health you'll be surprised so let's talk about health and not talk about health care at all there are pressures on our health care system doctor shortages er wait times but solving these problems won't make us healthy we all know about our health problems obesity cancer injuries diabetes heart disease asthma the statistics paint the picture too many of us are unhealthy and we all know what causes these problems diet smoking stress inactivity but do we really know the causes it's just not that simple we know that poverty is bad for your health people who have higher incomes have more opportunities to be healthy the more money people have the healthier they are everyone is affected health improves at every rung up the social and income ladder why is this there are many forces that impact health at a personal level we're affected by many things including the food we eat our activity levels our coping skills housing our family situation and access to health care our health is affected by the lifestyle decisions we make the housing and food we can afford and the social stressors that we face these things are in turn influenced by our level of education our jobs the amount of money we earn and our sense of community and if we step back even more we can see that our choices are impacted by our culture our economy and public policies okay let's meet laurie laurie is in the er again why she fell and broke her wrist why her new apartment is unsafe and she's stressed out why she works in a service industry she doesn't earn a lot she can't afford a better place why can't she get another job and move out she doesn't have the education to do anything else what does lori need for her health she needs affordable healthy food and housing the ability to make healthy decisions and effective coping skills she needs education so she can get a good job she needs money for housing food and clothing and she needs work benefits a safe community with friends and family access to affordable transportation and a safe and healthy workplace she also needs a healthy diverse economy to create job opportunities hey who shifted the focus now we're talking about way more than hospitals smoking exercise and diet we're talking about our schools our jobs our friends and family our employers our government the place we call home our community healthcare alone cannot fix our health problems we are truly at a fourth in the road if we continue where we're headed we'll need more resources to treat illness and injury healthcare costs will continue to rise it's a dead end road it's not sustainable it's a very expensive band-aid or we can take another direction towards community prosperity well-being productivity and health we can work towards affordable housing diversity walkable communities local food community engagement and early childhood development we can invest in our community we are from grey bruce known for our innovation and resourcefulness known for coming up with creative solutions to complex problems the evidence is all around us in the news and in our communities we are working together to build healthier communities we can rewrite laurie's story lori feels great she has a municipal council committed to diversifying the economy property standards that promote clean safe housing a college that offers low-cost evening upgrade classes support in her community to find better housing good friends she can turn to and excellent health care providers when she needs them so what can we do we can improve our community's health because we are nurses teachers builders dads business women students school trustees municipal counselors our community so let's start a conversation about health and not talk about health care at all and then let's get moving you