How Communities Putting Prevention to Work fostered policy change in rural West Virginia

Introduction: A six county region of West Virginia, known as the Mid-Ohio Valley (MOV), was funded through the CDC's Communities Putting Prevention to Work initiative to address obesity. Efforts targeted policy, systems and environmental change in order to improve physical activity and nutrition environments in the region. Policymakers were one target of the “Change the Future WV” campaign and both media and intervention activities sought to increase the perceived importance of obesity-related issues within this group. These efforts were made in order to reach the long-term goal of enacting policies that support quality physical activity and nutrition environments. Goals and Procedures: Policy changes were reported to the evaluation team through an online progress-monitoring tool by CPPW project coordinators. The WV CPPW evaluation team reviewed, defined, and coded each policy using formal definitions for: 1) geographic reach (e.g. “city level”, “county level”, “multi-county level”) and 2) policy type (e.g. “resolution”, “internal organizational policy”, “ordinance”). In addition, surveys were sent to policymakers in the MOV at baseline and follow-up to determine changes in attitudes related to CPPW issues. Results: Over 70 policy changes have taken place in the MOV since the beginning of CPPW, such as complete streets policies and resolutions to support required physical education in schools. These policies represent a full spectrum of policy types and geographic reach. Change in policymaker attitudes will also be presented and discussed. Discussion: CPPW was a catalyst for policy change in rural WV. Policy change occurred across all levels of government and private organizations.