182119 Collaborating for Success: Using Partnership Activities to Support the DHHS Physical Activity Guidelines

Monday, October 27, 2008: 3:10 PM

Genevieve Polk, MPH , Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA
Melissa Johnson , Dept. of Health & Human Services, President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, Washington, DC
Christine G. Spain, MS, MA , President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports Research, Planning, and Special Projects, Washington, DC
Jennifer Anne Bishop, MPH , Senior Policy Analyst, Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Asst. Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, Washington, DC
Kay Loughrey, MPH, MSM, RD , Office of Disease Prevention & Health Promotion, Department of health & Human Services, Rockville, MD
     
Background: In the fall of 2008, the U.S. Secretary for Health and Human Services will release Physical Activity Guidelines (PAG) for the nation. To maximize the potential effectiveness and impact of the physical activity recommendations, HHS assembled a Communications Partnership Team, composed of key private/public stakeholders to ensure that accurate, consistent, and meaningful messages are communicated across the nation's leading health and fitness organizations that will help increase the awareness of the PAG and help Americans more easily fit physical activity into their lives. In this session we will discuss the process used to engage stakeholders.

Methods: Obtaining buy-in from physical activity professionals and organizations was the first step to achieve the communication objective of increasing knowledge and awareness of the recommendations among target audiences. Techniques, such as an online collaborative workspace and listserv, will be used to gather input from and share information with partners and stakeholders. Examples of collaboration include obtaining feedback about the PAG creative design, joint creation of a media and dissemination toolkit, and discussion of appropriate dissemination channels.

Results/Discussion: The process and outcomes of developing the Communications Partnership Team will be presented, including any lessons learned. This session will describe levels of partnership engagement and steps taken to leverage resources for the development of clear and consistent messages about the PAG.

Learning Objectives:
At the end of this session participants will be able to: 1. Describe a process to engage key stakeholders and leverage resources to communicate accurate, meaningful, and consistent physical activity messages. 2. Identify strengths of potential stakeholders, and integrate individual expertise to enhance the communication activities. 3. Identify leaders in the health and fitness organizations.

Keywords: Partnerships, Communication

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I represent the CDC on the Communications Partnership Team for the 2008 PAG.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

See more of: Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans
See more of: Public Health Education and Health Promotion