Findings From a National Organization on Communities Implementing the 'Action Guides to Improve Community Health'

As community coalitions work towards instituting policies and promoting environmental change strategies to increase physical activity and limit tobacco usage they are turning to the research that supports such changes for guidance. The body of evidence provides a foundation for these strategies, but there are few guides that walk a coalition through implementing such a policy or environmental infrastructure change. The National Association of Chronic Disease Directors (NACDD) is working to provide technical assistance and training to such communities through the Action Communities for Health Innovation and EnVironmental ChangE (ACHIEVE) model. ACHIEVE communities are funded to promote policy, systems, and environmental changes at the local level to increase access to physical activity, healthy nutrition and limit tobacco use. In 2009, NACDD worked with three ACHIEVE communities to evaluate their implementation of three strategies from ‘The Community Health Promotion Handbook: Action Guides to Improve Community Health'. These strategies are: the creation of a community trail; the increase of active time in physical education classes in school; and the creation of a tobacco referral system within a healthcare setting. This session will highlight each communities experience with implementing their selected Action Guide, the process and the outcomes they experienced. Each community implemented a separate Guide and they had many shared experiences, but they also encountered unique barriers that required innovative solutions. This session will aspire to share this learned experience with other community coalitions that are endeavoring upon similar policy, systems or environmental approaches to increasing physical activity and reducing tobacco use.