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A
Public Health Action Plan to Prevent Heart Disease and Stroke
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Section 4. Implementation: Mobilizing for Action
Fundamental Action Steps
The two fundamental
requirements of this plan and their corresponding action steps address the
crosscutting aspects of effective communication, as well as strategic
leadership, partnerships, and organization.
Effective Communication
- Assess requirements
for effective messages. Set the agenda for a long–term, national public
information strategy that conveys the importance and feasibility of
prevention. Craft clear and compelling messages that capture public
attention, help people understand cardiovascular health (CVH) and its
risks, and support healthy behavioral changes. Include a social marketing
strategy to identify audiences, develop effective national messages, and
determine media avenues (e.g., peer–reviewed journals, CDC's Morbidity
and Mortality Weekly Report, community report cards). Communicate
consistent CVH information and messages to the public, health
professionals, and policy makers.
- Communicate
effectively at national and state levels to gain consensus on messages and
create public demand for heart–healthy options to prevent heart disease
and stroke. Work with partners whose roles include education of key
stakeholders. Engage local, state, and national policy makers, including
new stakeholders.
- Collect information
and monitor research systematically from national, state, and local levels
to facilitate sharing of knowledge and experience in developing
educational campaigns as part of this continuing strategy.
Expected
Outcomes
- Communication needs
and opportunities are assessed and used to guide initial development of
the long–term public information strategy anticipated by the plan.
- Multiple audiences
are identified and reached with consistent CVH information and messages.
Exposures are targeted and repetitive, reach and maintain critical
intensity, neutralize negative messages from special interests, and
include expression in popular humor as a measure of public awareness and
interest. An effective and sustained communication program exists and is
developing appropriate public messages about CVH.
- Public health
agencies are promoting continuing development of appropriate educational
materials.
Strategic Leadership, Partnerships, and Organization
- Broaden, strengthen,
and sustain public health partnerships as an essential force for
implementing and institutionalizing the plan. Include public health
agencies at all levels (national, state, and local) and a range of other
federal, state, and local agencies (e.g., education, agriculture,
transportation, housing, environment, tribal organizations); private
organizations (e.g., faith–based organizations, business, labor, media,
foundations); and academia (e.g., schools of public health, departments of
preventive and community medicine, family practice, pediatrics, internal
medicine, geriatrics).
- Convene public health
agencies at all levels to help develop implementation plans at state and
local levels.
- Continue to encourage
state health departments to foster internal partnerships and
collaborations with complementary CVH–related programs. Allow flexible use
of funding to facilitate these important links.
- Explore and enhance
the relationships public health agencies have with existing CVH policy
coalitions and consider the need for new ones to support the goals of the
plan.
Expected
Outcomes
- Partnerships
supporting the plan are strengthened or established, forming an
inclusive array of interests representing all relevant sectors of
society.
- State and local
public health officials, federal health care systems, and tribal
organizations are convened to help implement the plan.
- Support for CVH
partnership activities is strengthened, and technical assistance in
partnership development and management is available to state and local
public health agencies and other interested constituencies. Agencies
have expanded the number and diversity of internal and external CVH
collaborations. Available funds are used effectively to support
coordination among programs.
- Existing CVH policy
coalitions are strengthened.
Next Section: Action Steps for the Five
Essential Components
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Date last reviewed:
05/12/2006
Content source: Division for Heart Disease and Stroke
Prevention,
National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and
Health Promotion |
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