Seven Vital Conditions for Well-Being

Our team at Eaton Community Health is guided by a framework of values and tenets that we believe are essential for positive community change and improvement in community health.

This framework, the Seven Vital Conditions for Well-Being, provides direction and inspiration to help us conceptualize collective well-being and guides our efforts to identify and effect community change and improvement

1. Humane Housing

   Humane Housing is about stable, safe places to live, and living in diverse, vibrant communities that lead to full, productive lives. People are able to thrive with access to secure, consistent places to live, homes and neighborhoods that are safe from hazards, and neighborhoods that provide access to food and other basic needs, opportunity, and resources that promote healthy living.

2. Belonging & Civic Muscle

   Belonging and Civic Muscle is about having fulfilling relationships and social support that people need to thrive. It’s about being part of a community and contributing to its vibrancy. Social support through friends, family, and other networks contributes to our practical and emotional needs, enhances mental well-being, helps us navigate the challenges of life, and reinforces healthy behaviors.

3. Lifelong Learning

   Lifelong Learning is about providing a good education for all that ensures all people, regardless of age, background, or ability, are set up for success, and have the opportunities to reach their full potential. It’s about an education that launches people into meaningful careers, with ongoing opportunities to learn and grow..

4. Thriving Natural World

   Thriving Natural World is about having clean air, clean water, clean land, and well-functioning ecosystems. A healthy environment is one that is free from environmental hazards, one that is resilient to future changes and threats, and one that fulfills our needs to connect with nature.

5. Meaningful Work & Wealth

   Personal, family, and community wealth provides the means for healthy, secure lives. That includes good-paying, fulfilling jobs and careers, and financial security that extends across the life span. People’s lives and self-worth flourish when doing productive, rewarding work. The ability to accumulate adequate wealth shapes the living standards not only for individual families and communities, but for generations to come.

6. Basic Needs for Health & Safety 

   Physical and mental well-being starts with access to fresh air and water, nutritious food, and the security of a stable home. People also need healthy relationships – with freedom to express gender and sexuality – and a life free from violence, injury, and toxic stress. Access to routine and critical health care is also an important factor to maintaining health and well-being.

7. Reliable Transportation

   Reliable Transportation is about moving between home, work, school, stores—and more—in daily life. Transportation options influence access to jobs, social mobility, and our health. Active transportation—walking, biking, and transit use—helps us incorporate physical activity into our daily lives. Designing compact communities and sustainable transportation systems ensure people are able to get where they need to go no matter a person’s means, mode, or ability.