Strengthening the Diffusion of Quality School Health Programs by Incorporating Strategic Communications Planning

In 1999, Health MPowers, an Atlanta-based non-profit organization, developed a plan to increase the choice of healthy behaviors among students. The approach for reaching this outcome included implementation of a complex, systemic public health innovation -- the coordinated school health approach. Any innovation in schools requires a deliberate process to diffuse the innovation: internal partners to champion the innovation, resources, staff development, school leadership, and communications to create awareness and supportive action among the stakeholders – school administrators, school staff, and students' families. To facilitate diffusion of this innovation and develop support among key stakeholders, Health MPowers developed a multifaceted communication plan, based on public health communications theory. Communication theory addresses how messages are created, transmitted, received and assimilated to a range of audiences. The intentional communication plan developed by Health MPowers utilized an ecological approach and tailored messages for target audiences at individual, group and community levels. The multilevel strategies were interwoven with the delivery of all aspects of the programmatic intervention to successfully diffuse this public health innovation within the educational system. Beginning in the 2002-03 school year with less than ten schools, the initiative will reach more than 80 schools in the next year with the potential of adding an additional 50 schools in 2008-09. Discussion of the initiative's strategies as well as the communication process and documents will illuminate how an outside agency can help build the basis for administrator and stakeholder support for health that will ultimately improve behavioral choice among elementary and middle school students.