The Alberta Healthy Communities Approach (AHCA) is a continuous step-by-step process based on developing connections and collaborating with others.
The Healthy Communities Approach originated in Canada in the late 1980s and is currently used across Canada and in communities worldwide. The approach encourages community groups and leaders to build on existing strengths by engaging all its members through conversations on local priorities. These conversations give community members and partners a voice, helping to identify local assets and priorities, ultimately leading to innovative and creative solutions for specific needs.
The core values of the Healthy Communities Approach are capacity building and empowerment of individuals, organizations, and communities.
Community leaders working to bring change to the financial well-being of their community applied the Alberta Health Communities Approach throughout the project. Community teams worked together to engage and connect, understand their environment, prioritize and plan, implement and evaluate while sharing the great work across the Province.
Learn about the foundational principles and components of building a healthy community where you live, work, learn, play and age. The Action Guide breaks down the Alberta Healthy Community Approach into easy-to-follow steps, including actual success stories and practical tools to help you plan, implement and evaluate a community project. Each step has various templates that can be downloaded and tailored for community use.
