Strategies to increase sustainability of school-based obesity prevention interventions: The heroes initiative

Background: The HEROES Initiative, a three-year childhood obesity prevention intervention based on the Coordinated School Health Model (CSHM), aims to provide healthier environments for students, targeting physical activity and eating behaviors that lead to childhood obesity. Purpose: HEROES schools are expected to maintain changes made during the three-year grant cycle. The session will describe the overall implementation of the HEROES Initiative following the funding period and the factors that contributed to sustainability. Significance: Sustainability is often sought in school-based childhood obesity interventions, but is a challenge. This presentation will provide strategies that can be used to increase the likelihood of sustainability for other school-based programs employing the CSHM. Methodology: Site visits were conducted at seven schools in their fourth year of implementation to assess the extent to which the HEROES Initiative had been sustained. Implementation scores related to each component of the HEROES Initiative were awarded based on interviews and observations. Findings/Results: Compared to the final year of HEROES funding, total implementation scores post-funding declined slightly in four schools, remained consistent in one, and increased slightly in two. Schools with higher sustained implementation scores were more likely to maintain or increase implementation of physical activity, nutrition education, and administrative involvement practices. Most schools struggled to maintain post-funding coordination and wellness opportunities for staff. Conclusions/Recommendations: Although sustainability may be limited when financial resources are no longer available, it is recommended that schools that continue with CSHM efforts seek non-financial support and utilize resources available to maintain the efforts initiated.