Building the evidence base for policy and environmental approaches to obesity prevention: A cross-site evaluation of a comprehensive community health initiative

This presentation will give an overview of the approach to evaluation in the KP HEAL initiatives and present early results. The majority of the KP HEAL evaluation effort is devoted to assessing the impact of the Community Health Initiative (CHI). A national cross-site evaluation of CHI is being conducted by the Group Health Community Foundation's Center for Community Health and Evaluation, in partnership with the University of California at Berkeley Center for Weight and Health and the Kansas University Work Group.

The evaluation uses a case study design to describe and assess process and short-term outcomes related to sustainable programs and policy and environmental changes. A quasi-experimental design using youth surveys and automated phone surveys will assess the longer-term population-level impact of CHI on outcomes such as obesity, physical activity, and diet.

Multiple data sources are being used to create the structured case study for each community. The case studies are organized around each community's action plan, which describes the objectives, timeline, and expected outcomes for each intervention strategy. Additional information collected through the reporting protocol will include community contextual variables and challenges/lessons learned.

In addition to the CHI evaluation, the KP organizational practice changes are being documented and their impact assessed. CCHE is also working with local KP regions to evaluate other HEAL activities, including community partnerships and farmer's markets.