Oral

Communities are transforming their local landscapes to foster health and safety, and these local successes have the potential to influence policies and structures beyond the local level. Through a panel that will include representatives from policy and practice in an emerging interdisciplinary field that addresses violence and chronic disease, this session will illustrate how innovative community-led efforts can shape national-level strategy. Panelists have brought together the previously siloed fields of healthy eating and activity and preventing violence and have raised the priority and profile of preventing violence at the local and national levels. With funding from Kaiser Permanente, Prevention Institute produced, Addressing the Intersection: Preventing Violence and Promoting Healthy Eating and Active Living, a report that explores the inter-relationship between violence and healthy eating and activity and supports practitioners and advocates in their work to prevent chronic disease in communities heavily impacted by violence. Translating this research presented in the report into community-level practice, the Convergence Partnership supports an innovative pilot project in six communities across the country to address the intersection. Starting in 2010, the project brought together organizations and leaders from multiple fields to explore promising policy and environmental change strategies that reduce violence and promote healthy eating and activity environments simultaneously. The report and pilot initiative have catalyzed a national dialogue regarding the role of safety in community health and has begun to inform a national approach for community prevention. Building upon the increasing interest in this issue, in February 2011, Prevention Institute convened a congressional briefing on Capitol Hill in partnership with the offices of Senator Tom Harkin and Representative Barbara Lee and six national organizations, including APHA. The briefing provided a deeper understanding about the relationship between violence and healthy eating and physical activity and information that could inform policy decisions to prevent violence while improving healthy food and activity environments. In addition to influencing federal policy, the growing research base and community-level efforts can also impact the work of large federal agencies, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Session Objectives: •Describe the value of prevention as a strategy for addressing violence, reducing chronic illness, and eliminating health inequities, particularly illnesses linked to unhealthy eating and inactivity. •Identify strategies for using local practices/successes to inform local, state, or national policies and agencies.

CE Credits: Medical (CME), Health Education (CHES), Nursing (CNE), Public Health (CPH) , Masters Certified Health Education Specialist (MCHES)