Opportunities for primary prevention through policy and institutional practice change to improve community environments

Health care expenditures are projected to more than double over the next decade. Food and activity environments are major determinants of the incidence and prevalence of chronic illness, which is a driving force for health care expenditures. Primary prevention should have a concrete role in informing public policy and interdisciplinary collaborative efforts to support health promoting environments. Through work with the Strategic Alliance, national and state Steps to a HealthierUS coalitions, the Healthy Places Coalition, and the Healthy Eating/Active Living Convergence Partnership, the Institute has identified key elements of a successful strategy to impact the community environments: identifying a comprehensive agenda with strategic policies and engaging a multidisciplinary partnership of key sectors. An effective agenda requires a broad range of cross-cutting strategies that can engage diverse constituencies. Collaborations must strategically engage non-traditional partners (beyond public health) that may not explicitly focus on health, but make decisions every day that impact the public's health.

Prevention Institute will highlight interdisciplinary strategies and policies to achieve healthy food and activity environments and delineate how sectors and disciplines can add unique value to these efforts. In addition to presenting the elements of a successful agenda to reform community environments, Prevention Institute will identify tools and resources to build the capacity of key leaders to engage in environmental approaches (primarily through policy and institutional practice change) and build interdisciplinary collaborations to maximize success.