Strategies for Evaluating Community-level Policy and Environmental Change in a Healthy Food and Built Environment Initiative

background

Since 2007, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation has funded nine diverse community coalitions, known as Food & Fitness Partnerships, to bring about policy and environmental changes to improve equity in access to healthy, locally-grown food and opportunities for active living. The partnerships have targeted their work in vulnerable neighborhoods and schools. The Center for Managing Chronic Disease (CMCD) at the University of Michigan coordinates this cross-site evaluation.    

 methods

While evaluating policy change can be challenging, an innovative tool was created collaboratively by the CMCD and partnerships called the Systems and Policy Change Form (SPCF) to track the policy changes. Key informant interviews are also conducted regularly to capture the opinions and perspectives of partnership leaders related to the changes. 

 results

The SPCF has allowed evaluators to collect data on final outcomes and the estimated impact of these outcomes; track progress towards outcomes; discover successful strategies employed by partnerships; better understand contextual factors; and identify champions and strategic partners involved. Examples of outcomes common across several partnerships include changing school food procurement policies to favor healthier local food, updating zoning laws to encourage community and home gardens, expanding SNAP and WIC acceptance at farmer’s markets, and construction of walking trails and bike lanes. Successful outcomes and strategies will be presented.       

 conclusions

As more and more public health initiatives include policy and environmental change components, there is a growing need for tools to track these outcomes. Methods used in the Food & Fitness evaluation could serve as a model for other public health interventions.