Enlarging the Role of Community Partnerships for Health in Appalachian Tennessee

Tennessee’s prevalence of obesity, cancer and cardiovascular deaths, high infant mortality, diabetes incidence, and tobacco use degrade the quality of life and economic stability of the state. The Roadmap for a Healthier Appalachian Tennessee program of the Tennessee Institute of Public Health was designed to support the work of local community partners and leaders (e.g., city and county economic developers, public health professionals, business leaders, school personnel, non-profit and faith-based organizers) to implement or expand community-based health initiatives in identified economically distressed or at-risk Appalachian counties of Tennessee in 2014. A competitive sub granting process included an invitational grant preparation workshop, site visits, telephone assistance, and periodic emailed communication with updates on additional grant opportunities, current research, and articles of support for the targeted topics chosen by the communities.  The broad goals of the program allowed 20 communities to tailor their diverse community health improvement projects to fit health needs in their local areas to achieve self-determined objectives and to choose measures that relied on state, national and local data.  This systematic approach drove verifiable changes in local health practices and policies and strengthened ties with East Tennessee State University as well as promoted healthy behaviors that were linked from the start to improving the economic base for these counties. Evaluation by the communities of the completed projects contributed to the assessment of their success and sustainability.