• Steps CAP Workshop and Action Institute....... June 4–6, 2007
• Steps Program Office....... Staff Updates
• Program Consultants (PC) Team....... Of Special Note
• Communications, Policy, and Partnerships (CPP) Team....... Of Special Note
• Surveillance and Evaluation (SE) Team....... Of Special Note
• Steps Community Programs and the YMCA....... A Powerful Combination
• Steps Community Spotlight....... What Does Your Web Site Say About Your Program?
• Conferences of Interest....... For Steps Grantees and Partners

Steps CAP Workshop and Action Institute....... June 4–6, 2007

Planning is moving ahead at a fast pace for the Steps Cooperative Agreement Program (CAP) Workshop and Action Institute to be held this year in Seattle, Washington. The AGENDA is under development and will be posted on our workshop information pages as details become available; links are currently available to ONLINE REGISTRATION and ABSTRACT SUBMISSION GUIDELINES.

The registration deadline is Friday, May 18, 2007. There are no registration fees; however, EVERYONE IS REQUIRED TO REGISTER to attend this meeting. Space is limited, so do register as soon as possible! This year’s workshop will focus on training in the areas of “Environmental, Policy, and Systems Change" and "Sustainability.” Information will be presented through posters, daily workshop presentations, and key speakers.

Steps Program Office....... Staff Updates

• Richard S. Roman (Rick) has joined the Steps Program as Acting Associate Director effective April 2, 2007. We are excited about having Rick temporarily join the Steps staff. Rick brings more than 27 years of CDC experience as a Public Health Analyst to the Steps Program. For the last 6 years, he was the Deputy Director of the Healthy Aging Program in the Division of Adult and Community Health. Prior to that, Rick was involved in CDC activities in the areas of Sexually Transmitted Diseases and HIV Prevention, Emergency Response, and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response. Rick will be responsible for the day-to-day operational management of the Steps Program, provide administrative and management oversight of Steps Program activities, and assist Alyssa Easton, Steps Program Director, in implementing new strategies and activities as Steps continues to grow.
   
• Rick Roman is replacing Sheila Porter who has moved to a new opportunity within the Division of Adult and Community Health with the Alcohol Program in the Emerging Investigations and Analytical Methods Branch. We wish Sheila much success in her new opportunity!
   
• Ora Chamberlain, Program Analyst, has accepted a detail with the Office of the Director in CDC’s National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion to help plan the 2007 National Prevention and Health Promotion Summit. Good luck to Ora on this exciting opportunity!
   
• Amy Rentz recently became the Administrative Assistant to the Program Consultants Team. Amy has a BS in Early Childhood Education and was a teacher for two years prior to joining CDC.
   
• Cheryl Holiness, Health Care Analyst, will be returning to the Office of the Director in CDC’s Division of Adult and Community Health on April 16th. She will be assisting the Steps Program with strategic planning, partnerships, and policy efforts from the Division’s Program Development area. Many thanks to Cheryl for her time and effort with the Steps Program!

Program Consultants (PC) Team....... Of Special Note

Monthly Conference Call to Steps Community Program Managers

In the monthly “Program Consultants’ conference call” to the Steps Community Program Managers on March 8, presentation topics, potential speakers, and special events for the upcoming Steps Cooperative Agreement Program Workshop and Action Institute were discussed, and feedback and suggestions were provided by the Program Managers.

WebBoard Forum

The Steps WebBoard Forum has been officially migrated to new software called TeamCDC and is under complete revision as a result. This new software should give the Steps Program additional capabilities beyond those of the WebBoard Forum. Many of the prior members of the WebBoard Forum received an email asking them to update their user information due to increased security requirements of the new software. Everyone who updated their information can now log in at https://team.cdc.gov. The Steps PC Team migrated over most of the topics that were previously being used. For those who did not have an opportunity to update your information, as soon as the PC Team determines how best to use this new software’s components, they will make sure that all members have access, provide training, and get feedback on how best to use this forum. Please don't hesitate to share your ideas with your Program Consultant. Initial ideas on WebBoard Forum offerings include the following:

• Posting materials such as Public Service Announcements (PSAs), PowerPoint presentations, and radio ads that have been developed.
   
• Sharing articles and materials on policy, organizational, and systems change and sustainability.
   
• Sharing tools and kits that have been developed by communities across the country.
   
• Posting questions to your peers.

Communications, Policy, and Partnerships (CPP) Team....... Of Special Note

Monthly Conference Call to Steps Community Communication Representatives

The monthly “Communications, Policy, and Partnerships conference call” to Steps communities was held on March 28. Tracy Della Torre from the Ad Council was the featured speaker. She provided information about the Ad Council's offer to distribute new public service announcements (PSAs) directly to TV stations in May as part of the national Obesity Prevention Campaign. The PSAs will focus on portion control and healthy eating, and will identify the local Steps Program for the communities in which it is televised. The Steps Program is proud to have a partnership with the Ad Council, the leading producer of PSAs for over 60 years.

Steps Community Success Stories

Since last month’s newsletter, we are pleased to announce the posting of six additional "Community Success Stories" at http://www.cdc.gov/steps/success_stories/index.htm. Please visit this link to read about successful chronic disease prevention activities taking place in Cochise County, AZ; Santa Cruz County, AZ; Tampa-Hillsborough County, FL; Cleveland, OH; Fayette County, PA; and San Antonio-Bexar County, TX, in addition to the 12 previously posted stories on other Steps communities. More are in development!

Updated “Diseases and Risk Factors” Webpage

The Steps "Diseases and Risk Factors" Webpage at http://www.cdc.gov/steps/disease_risk/index.htm has undergone a complete revision. Please visit this Webpage to find updated resources on obesity, diabetes, and asthma, as well as three related risk behaviors—physical inactivity, poor nutrition, and tobacco use.

Surveillance and Evaluation (SE) Team....... Of Special Note

Annual Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) Conference

The Steps SE Team recently attended the BRFSS Conference in Decatur, Georgia, March 26–28. Congratulations to the following Steps programs for being selected to present as part of moderated sessions at the conference:

• Steps to a Healthier Arizona presented “Tailoring Community-Specific Interventions Along the Arizona Border Using County-Specific BRFSS Data in the Steps to a Healthier Arizona Initiative” by Christine Pierce, MPH, and Frances Kaplan, MPH (Session: Methodologies For Developing Local or Community-Specific Health Estimates)
   
• Steps to a Healthier DeKalb County presented “Leisure Time Sedentary Behaviors Among African-American Adults: 2005 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, DeKalb County, Georgia” by Greta A. R. Kilmer, MS, and Ann Ussery-Hall, MPH, CHES (Session: Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities)

The conference showcased the successful application of BRFSS data by state-based programs such as diabetes, cancer prevention, tobacco and alcohol use prevention, family planning, nutrition and physical activity, and oral health. The conference featured sessions on "the importance and challenges of health surveillance at the state and federal levels, BRFSS's impact on mental health surveillance activities, recent BRFSS research activities on reaching underrepresented groups, scientific publishing of BRFSS data, and effective communication strategies for surveillance data."

Steps Community Programs and the YMCA....... A Powerful Combination

The accomplishments generated from collaborative efforts between local YMCAs and their communities’ Steps programs were profiled in a YMCA national report, entitled “YMCA/Steps Community Collaborative Projects: Six Case Narratives.”

Read about the following six programs at http://www.ymca.net/downloads/061106_steps_case_narratives.pdf* (PDF–687K)

• Steps to a HealthierWA-Chelan County and Wenatchee Valley YMCA in Wenatchee, Washington
   
• Steps to a HealthierNY-Chautauqua County and Jamestown YMCA in Jamestown, New York
   
• Steps to a HealthierCO-Pueblo County and YMCA of Pueblo in Pueblo, Colorado
   
• Steps to a HealthierFL-Pinellas County and YMCA of Greater St. Petersburg in St. Petersburg, Florida
   
• Steps to a Healthier Anishinaabe and YMCA of Delta County in Delta County, Michigan
   
• Steps to a Healthier Anishinaabe and State YMCA of Michigan in Central Lake, Michigan

Steps Community Spotlight....... What Does Your Web Site Say About Your Program?

The Steps Program Office strongly encourages each grantee to review its program’s Web site on a routine basis. Is the contact information up to date? Are events listed in a timely manner? Are useful, current resources (with intact links) provided for your community’s readership? Is information easy to find? Do names of menu items and other headers best represent the underlying information? For a fresh perspective on maximizing your Steps program’s messages, visit other Steps Web sites to see their approaches to design and content. Web site addresses can be accessed through the Steps Communities Web page at http://www.cdc.gov/steps/steps_communities/index.htm.

Here’s a look at the progress that one of the Steps grantees has made recently with its Web site.

Rachel Cohen, Steps Communications Coordinator for Steps to a HealthierMN, sent out an e-mail that their Steps program was excited to share “the successes of the Steps chronic disease prevention model through the unveiling of our new look, newsletter, and Web site.” Rachel further explained: “Our Steps logo is still the same, but we've dressed it up with some bold colors as well as a tagline...While our Web site has been up for a few months, we formally invite you to visit the site at www.stepstoahealthiermn.org*. On the site, you will find the following:

• Information on the Steps Program and basic information about the Steps focus areas of asthma, diabetes, obesity, physical activity, nutrition, and tobacco use and exposure.
   
• Information about the settings in which Steps programs are taking place (Home page).
   
• State activities and resources surrounding the Steps focus areas and information on monitoring and evaluation, communications, research and best practices, and our State Leadership Team (Minnesota page).
   
• An introduction to our four funded communities of Minneapolis, Rochester, St. Paul, and Willmar, and information on what programs and activities are taking place in their communities.”

Conferences of Interest....... For Steps Grantees and Partners

• April 30–May 3, 2007.....Atlanta, Georgia
  2007 CDC Diabetes Conference, sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
  http://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/conferences/#2007
   
• May 31–June 1, 2007..... Washington, DC
  2007 National Asthma Forum: Communities in Action for Asthma-Friendly Environments, sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
  https://www.epaasthmaforum.com/index.aspx
   
• June 4–6, 2007.....Seattle, Washington
  2007 Steps Cooperative Agreement Program (CAP) Workshop and Action Institute, sponsored by CDC's Steps Program
   
• June 7–9, 2007.....Seattle, Washington
  2007 CDC/DHPE National Conference on Health Promotion & Health Education and SOPHE’s 2007 Midyear Scientific Conference, sponsored by the Directors of Health Promotion and Education (DHPE), the CDC, and the Society for Public Health Education (SOPHE)
  http://www.team-psa.com/hehpconference/home.asp
   
• June 10-15, 2007..... Vancouver, BC, Canada
  19th IUHPE World Conference on Health Promotion and Health Education, sponsored by the Canadian Consortium for Health Promotion Research (CCHPR)
  http://www.iuhpeconference.org/en/index.htm*
   
• June 24–26, 2007.....Atlanta, Georgia
  2007 Joint Conference of the American Association of Health Education (AAHE) and the National Association of Health Education Centers (NAHEC)
  http://www.nahec.org/*
   
• June 24–27, 2007.....Toronto, Canada
  International Conference on Physical Activity & Obesity in Children, sponsored by a variety of companies and organizations
  http://www.phe.queensu.ca/epi/obesity/*
   
• November 27-29, 2007.....Washington, DC
  2007 National Prevention and Health Promotion Summit: Creating a Culture of Wellness, sponsored by HHS’ Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
  http://www.cdc.gov/cochp/conference/index.htm