Pott County Certifed as an Official Blue Zones Community by David Dinsmore
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n August, Avedis Foundation, Sharecare and Blue Zones, LLC announced Pottawatomie County as the first certified Blue Zones Community in the state of Oklahoma, a recognition of the project’s impact on locals’ overall health and wellness through optimizing public policy and the places and spaces where people spend the most time. The certification represents more than three years of collaboration among private and public groups focused on increasing awareness and participation in physical, mental and social health programs. To reach the certification status, Blue Zones Project Pottawatomie County had to demonstrate that 50 percent of the top 20 identified worksites, 25 percent of schools, 25 percent of restaurants, 25 percent of grocery stores and 50 percent of the top 20 faithbased groups met the trademarked Blue Zones Project Approved requirements. On the individual level, 25 percent of citizens must have committed to the Blue Zones Project and completed at least one well-being improvement ac-
tion with more than 5,000 individuals taking the Blue Zones Personal Pledge. This certification recognized all the work that staff and volunteers – including 329 residents who put in 2,557 volunteer hours – to help get to this point, Avedis Foundation president and CEO Kathy Lester said. “It represents our desire to really improve our community and to make Shawnee a great place to live,” Laster said. “We knew creating an environment like this … people would be attracted to our community because of the emphasis on health and wellness.” The goals set by the Blues Zones Project to improve the health, wellness and quality of life of county citizens fit well in line with the Avedis Foundation’s mission, which is one of the reasons the organization decided to collaborate with Sharecare and Blue Zones to bring the project to the community, Laster said. The local Blue Zones Project initiative aims to use resources in the area to make the healthy choice the easy choice.
Pottawatomie County became a certified Blue Zones Community following more than three years of work getting officials, individuals and organizations to commit to wellness initiatives to improve the lives of locals and attract people to an area with a concerted focus on mind, body and spiritual health. Photos submitted
“We loved the Blue Zones approach because it's not just about diet and exercise,” Laster said. “It's not telling you how to eat. It's a whole mind-body-spirit approach. It's about knowing your sense of purpose. It's about having a sense of belonging. It's about the need for social support in the improvement we need to make and not having social isolation. It's swimming upstream against all of those kinds of changes in our society.” Officials on a variety of levels noted the announcement last month to recognize the community’s certification. “I am so proud of the entire Blue Zones Project Pottawatomie County team. Every project www.shawneeoutlook.com
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