Chronic Disease and Injury Prevention

Chronic diseases and conditions are among the most common, costly, and preventable of all health problems. Examples of chronic diseases include cancer, heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, chronic lower respiratory disease, and diabetes. These diseases are not contagious. They develop slowly over time, and there may be no symptoms before onset. Risks for developing chronic diseases are significantly influenced by lifestyle behaviors, like nutrition, physical activity, and tobacco use.  We cannot control all of our risk factors, but we can do our best to control those we can. 

Though there are many things we can do as individuals, supporting more spaces and systems that promote healthy living is also critical to preventing disease and improving quality of life. Ensuring that homes, workplaces, neighborhoods, places of worship, and schools are offering an environment and culture that supports wellness is a priority for this program, especially in regards to reducing health inequities based on income, region, or other socioeconomic factors.

Programs and services offered to help prevent and manage chronic disease include:

• Get Active: Want to be more active? Join our free 6-week Austin Moves! walking program and get started!
• Take Charge of Diabetes! Diabetes  Prevention and Management: Learn more about diabetes and overall health tips. Register for our Diabetes Empowerment Education Program (DEEP) or the PrevenT2 Diabetes Prevention Program.
• Live Tobacco-Free! Tobacco/Smoking Cessation and Prevention: Find fantastic resources to help you live a life free from tobacco, whether at home, work, or play. We also have great tools to help you quit smoking for good.
• The Faith Community Partnership: Connect to an expert guide to access resources and help you develop ways to positively impact your congregations' health.
• Fresh for Less Healthy Food Access Project: The City of Austin-Austin Public Health is in partnership with Farmshare Austin and Central Texas Food Bank to offer fresh, affordable, convenient, and nutritious food.
• Our worksite wellness program can help you assess and customize wellness programs for your unique workplace through technical assistance and networking with other organizations.
• Healthy Schools program can help you design a healthier school through our technical assistance.

The CDIP Program offers ways for those dedicated to improving individual behaviors and the systems and environments to connect so that healthier living is easier. Learn more:

• Central Texas Diabetes Coalition

Recommendations for a healthy lifestyle:

Active Living

• Be active at least 150 minutes a week with moderate intensity physical activity, for at least 10 minutes at a time (or 30 minutes a day, five days a week).
• Do muscle-strengthening activities that are moderate or high intensity and involve all major muscle groups on two or more days a week.

Healthy Eating

• Increase fruit and vegetable consumption to at least 5-9 servings a day.
• Reduce consumption of "junk" foods, or foods considered to have minimal nutritional value.

Tobacco-Free Living

• Do not use cigarettes, cigars, pipes, smokeless tobacco, electronic smoking devices, or any other form of tobacco product.
• Minimize exposure to secondhand smoke.