The Backyard Initiative

The goal of the Backyard Initiative is to improve health and health care in the seven communities surrounding Allina Commons in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Allina Hospitals and Clinics and the Cultural Wellness Center worked to engage the community in order to define health and determine what aspects of health and health care were the most important to community members. An Assessment Team was created to determine the current state of health and well-being of the area residents, to engage residents in the process, and to use the information gathered to inform the Initiative. Listening Circles and "Walk-around" interviews were used to collect information from residents.

The goal of the Backyard Initiative is to improve health and health care.

From November 2009 to January 2010, a total of 675 Backyard residents completed the interview. The responses gathered from the Listening Circles and the Walk-around interviews have been used to form a baseline of information about the health of people living in the targeted neighborhoods. The results from future assessments will then be compared to baseline data to see which factors are improving.