Hagland M
Healthc Forum J. 1997 Nov-Dec;40(6):24-30.
Improving the health and well-being of a community may seem like a daunting task-particularly when you consider the vast number of factors that can influence the quality of life of a neighborhood or a region. It's not impossible, however, as six widely different communities across the U.S. are discovering. The Accelerating Community Transformation (ACT) project--now underway by The Healthcare Forum through a five-year, $5 million grant from pharmaceutical joint venture Astra Merck Inc.--is an innovative attempt to create real-life learning laboratories in communities as diverse as an inner-city neighborhood on the west side of Chicago; the small southern town of Aiken, S.C.: the semi-desert city of San Bernardino, Calif.; a corner of America's heartland where Missouri, Kansas. Nebraska and Iowa meet; the new town of Celebration, Fla.; and St. Louis, Mo. The goals: to evaluate and accelerate community-wide efforts that result in healthier, more desirable places for people to live, work and play; to build community capacity; and to achieve measurable improved health and quality of life outcomes.
改善社区的健康状况和福祉似乎是一项艰巨的任务，尤其是当你考虑到大量可能影响邻里或地区生活质量的因素时。然而，这并非不可能，美国六个截然不同的社区正在证明这一点。加速社区转型（ACT）项目——目前由医疗保健论坛通过制药合资企业阿斯特拉·默克公司提供的为期五年、500万美元的赠款正在实施——是一次创新尝试，旨在像在芝加哥西区的一个市中心社区、南卡罗来纳州艾肯的一个南部小镇、加利福尼亚州圣贝纳迪诺的半沙漠城市、美国中西部密苏里州、堪萨斯州、内布拉斯加州和爱荷华州交界处的一个角落、佛罗里达州的庆祝新城以及密苏里州的圣路易斯等不同社区中创建现实生活中的学习实验室。目标是：评估并加速全社区范围内的努力，从而为人们创造更健康、更宜居的生活、工作和娱乐场所；建设社区能力；并实现可衡量的健康改善和生活质量提升成果。
