What is ‘Policy, System and Environmental Change’?

Policy, system and environmental change is a way of thinking about how to effectively improve health in a community. Many traditional health programs have focused on individual behavior, assuming that  if you teach people what will make them healthy, they will find a way to do it. Being healthy, however, is not just about individual choices.

Today, we’re realizing that it’s not enough to know how to be healthy – you need practical, readily  available healthy options around you. That’s where policy, system and environmental change comes  in. This two-page fact sheet created by the Ohio Prevention & Wellness Network provides an introduction to the concept.