Crosscutting strategies to engage non-traditional partners in producing healthy community environments

Health-promoting food and activity environments are essential elements of a healthy community. In order to effectively improve environments where people live, work, play, and learn, efforts must be strategic and coordinated. Prevention Institute will articulate a broad definition of the environment that includes social and cultural elements, in addition to the physical elements that are typically associated with environments. The presentation will focus on the intersections between eating and activity behaviors and the built environment and how public policy and institutional practice change levers can support health-producing behaviors.

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 built environment: 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.