Beyond the Exam Room: How Parks, Trails and Public Spaces Shape Community Health in Sullivan County

As communities across the country grapple with rising rates of chronic disease, anxiety, depression and social isolation, health advocates in Sullivan County are looking beyond hospitals and doctor’s offices for solutions.

For Dr. Anjana Poonthota, a board-certified pediatric hospitalist with Garnet Health and a Sullivan 180 board member, improving health means addressing the conditions people experience every day — not just treating illnesses after they appear.

“Community health, in my opinion, is not just the focus of the well-being of the patient in my exam room,” Poonthota said. “It is generally about the population. What is going on with the population that’s making them sick or unhealthy?”

That broader view of health is at the heart of Sullivan 180’s work. The nonprofit has spent years investing in projects that may not resemble traditional health initiatives: parks, playgrounds, walking trails, gardens, public gathering spaces and community revitalization efforts.

For Shannon Cilento, Sullivan 180’s director of community development and communications, those investments are rooted in prevention.

“The social determinants of health — those things like the environment and your access to care and access to the outdoors and recreational opportunities — at Sullivan 180, our biggest focus is prevention,” Cilento said.

She noted that only a small percentage of health care spending in the United States goes toward preventive measures.

“If we can invest in those environmental preventative measures like parks, trails, communities, safe main streets, access to transportation, all of those things that create a healthy community, then we’re only setting our youth up for success,” she said.

The Health Benefits of Green Spaces

Research increasingly points to the role that outdoor spaces play in both physical and mental well-being. Poonthota said parks and trails provide accessible places for exercise while also helping reduce stress and strengthen social connections.

“These green spaces are essential for physical, mental and emotional benefits,” she said.

Time spent outdoors can improve mood, reduce anxiety and restore attention, she added. Even brief periods outside can make a difference.

“Just even 20 to 30 minutes,” Poonthota said. “The mood-boosting chemicals like dopamine, serotonin — the stress reduction, immersing just in 20 minutes every day drops the cortisol levels.”

Exposure to natural light and nature also helps trigger the release of what she described as “feel-good hormones,” boosting mood and focus.

“When you spend time in nature, it provides a break from your mundane activities,” she said. “Your ability to focus, you process emotions better. It gives you a sense of relief.”

A Growing Concern for Children

Poonthota said the issue is especially important for children and adolescents, who are spending increasing amounts of time indoors and on screens.

“This is a national public health problem,” she said. “Most of our adolescents and pre-pubescent boys and girls are ending up in the emergency room because they want to kill themselves or they don’t feel good. Their mood is really down.”

She encouraged parents to create opportunities for outdoor activity, even if it’s just a short daily walk.

“I’d especially advise taking your child out just for 15 to 20 minutes a day,” Poonthota said. “Spend time outdoors.”

Cilento said schools across Sullivan County are increasingly embracing outdoor learning opportunities through Sullivan 180-supported projects.

“We’re funding outdoor classrooms, we’re funding outdoor walking trails and gardens and places where students can bring that education in that classroom outside,” she said.

Building Community Through Public Spaces

The benefits of parks and trails extend beyond individual health, both said.

Public spaces can help combat loneliness, foster friendships and create opportunities for people from different backgrounds to connect.

“Human beings are social beings,” Poonthota said. “It reduces loneliness. It fosters friendships.”

Cilento said the organization not only helps create outdoor spaces but also works to activate them through community events.

“We do a lot of work with the Sullivan O&W Rail Trail,” she said. “We host four events every year to activate sections of those trails.”

Those efforts complement the spontaneous interactions that happen when people gather at neighborhood parks, courts and playgrounds.

“It’s really wonderful to see both those organic neighborhood interactions as well as those more planned community event interactions,” she said.

A New Community Gathering Place

One recent example came in Wurtsboro, where community leaders transformed a vacant lot into Canal Park, featuring basketball and pickleball courts.

Cilento attended the park’s ribbon-cutting ceremony and said the response was immediate.

“When I tell you the amount of people that showed up at that ribbon cutting on Saturday to start playing basketball and playing pickleball, and also the people that walked there from their homes in the village to have access to parks that are walkable, that are in your neighborhood, is just an incredible opportunity,” she said.

She described an atmosphere filled with energy and connection.

“The positivity and the energy in that community that day, the connections that happen, the understanding that comes from interacting with people who are different from you in a public space — it’s really just a wonderful thing to see.”

Small Steps, Big Impact

As June marks Great Outdoors Month, Poonthota and Cilento encouraged residents to make simple changes that can improve their health and strengthen community connections.

“Swap one daily sugar beverage for water and commit to just 15 minutes of brisk walking outside,” Poonthota said. “Don’t do anything. Just walk. That’s the start.”

Cilento encouraged residents to explore the county’s trail network.

“The amount of Sullivan County trails in Trailkeeper to connect with the trail in your community — there’s so many across the county that hopefully everyone can explore a new trail and get out there and explore their community.”

Garnet Health and Sullivan 180 are financial supporters of Radio Catskill.

Image: A view of the Fallsburg Tunnel from the Sullivan O&W Rail Trail. (sullivanoandw.com)