238525 Measuring cross-sectoral policy, environment, and systems change for chronic disease prevention

Saturday, October 29, 2011: 11:15 AM

Semra Aytur, PhD, MPH , Department of Health Management and Policy, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH
Policy, environment, and systems change is increasingly emphasized as an important complement to individually-oriented approaches to promote healthy behavior, prevent chronic disease, and eliminate health disparities. However, state and local public health practitioners working in settings with different capacity levels and resources may find it challenging to identify or develop tools to measure policy, environment, and systems change.

Examples will be drawn from non-traditional community-based sectors (e.g., urban planning/built environment, transportation, food systems, and law enforcement). Participants will become familiar with the policy change process and how they might adapt measurement tools to fit their own local priorities and contexts. Examples of strategies to build capacity and collaborations for policy change within lower income communities will be described.

Learning Areas:
Advocacy for health and health education
Chronic disease management and prevention
Conduct evaluation related to programs, research, and other areas of practice
Epidemiology
Public health or related public policy
Social and behavioral sciences

Learning Objectives:
1. Describe the policy process in relation to cross-sectoral health initiatives; 2. Discuss how to match measurement tools to specific stages of the policy process in local contexts; 3. Identify appropriate measurement tools; 4. Discuss examples from the field; 5. Discuss possibilities for building community capacity and utilizing community-based participatory research (CBPR) methods to develop measurement strategies; 6. Identify unique evaluation challenges; 7. Discuss solutions for addressing evaluation challenges.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am qualified to be an author because I have been involved in research and practice on this topic for over 8 years. I serve on the faculty of the University of New Hampshire's Department of Health Management and Policy and at The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Practice at Dartmouth Medical School. My research focuses on policy, environment, and systems change to prevent chronic disease, particularly in lower income and rural communities. Currently, I am leading a community-based participatory research study focusing on cross-sectoral collaborations to prevent chronic disease and violence in lower income communities. Previously, I completed a postdoctoral fellowship in cardiovascular epidemiology at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. In addition to my academic background, I have worked in state and local health departments on policy development, assessment, and epidemiology. (Please see my Organizer bio for further information).
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.

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