Forum participants develop a healthy to-do list for KC area

Sherry Norfleet, of Harrisonville, Mo., participated in a stretching exercise during a break at a health care forum Saturday in Kansas City, Mo. About 300 people participated in the forum, which focused on ways to improve the health of KC area residents.- photo by Mike Sherry

By Mike Sherry
Hale Center for Journalism

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City of the future would be a place where people have affordable medical care, policymakers work with the community on health issues and residents suffer less from chronic disease and violence.
That, at any rate, is the consensus that emerged Saturday at a forum in Kansas City, Mo.And it was just the start of what participants said a vigorous metropolitan area should look like in the next decade.

They spoke of a place free of mental health stigma, less prone to tobacco use and substance abuse, wired for electronic medical records, stocked with nutritious food options and home to healthy youngsters and well-cared-for seniors.

The forum, at the Sheraton Kansas City Hotel at Crown Center, drew roughly 300 participants from both sides of the state line. About a third were African American and more than a quarter said their annual household income was less than $15,000.

The forum sponsors, the Health Care Foundation of Greater Kansas City and the United Way of Greater Kansas City, focused on residents who are uninsured or underserved by the current health care system.

The attendees agreed on a number of strategies to achieve their goals, including:

• Publicizing votes to hold public officials accountable for their views.

• Increasing taxes on tobacco and alcohol to fund prevention and treatment efforts.

• Training parents on how to talk with their kids about sex, pregnancy and mental health.

• Providing financial support, including tax breaks, to allow seniors to remain in their homes.

Organizers said they plan to compile the recommendations into a report they hope to share with legislators and hospital administrators.

Zoie Reynolds, 15, a sophomore at Grandview High School, said she was able to enlighten her tablemates about the stresses experienced by teenagers and the difficulties of getting a healthy school lunch.

Reynolds said she left with a commitment to improve the health of the community, including a vow to inspire her generation and to “speak when I feel passionate and not be voiceless.”

Mike Sherry is a reporter for Heartland Health Monitor, a news collaboration focusing on health issues and their impact in Missouri and Kansas.