October/November 2007 NEWSLETTER
STEPS PROGRAM OFFICE
Posted November 29, 2007

• Salinas–Monterey County’s accomplishments published in Preventing Chronic Disease…"A Methodology for Evaluating Organizational Change in Community-Based Chronic Disease Interventions"
• Success Stories from the YMCA/Steps Community Collaborative Projects…A New Publication
• The Steps Program Discussed on an International Stage…The 2nd National Social Marketing Conference in Oxford, England
• Save the Date!...Information about the Upcoming Grantee Meeting, Towards a Sustainable Future for Community Health
• Steps Program Office updates…Announcement of New Steps Associate Director and New Program Staff
• New Resource Alert…Prevention Institutes “Reducing Health Care Costs Through Prevention”
• Upcoming Conferences of Interest…For Steps Grantees and Partners

Salinas–Monterey County’s accomplishments published in Preventing Chronic Disease…"A Methodology for Evaluating Organizational Change in Community-Based Chronic Disease Interventions"

Congratulations to the Salinas Steps Program and Monterey County Health Department staff authors!

"A Methodology for Evaluating Organizational Change in Community-Based Chronic Disease Interventions" was recently published in the October 2007 issue of Preventing Chronic Disease. The article described efforts by the Monterey County Health Department to encourage sustainable systems change. Through the use of the Spectrum of Prevention, which is comprised of six interrelated action levels, the Salinas Program created five site-specific partner surveys to gauge the presence of organizational practices, policies, or both. The surveys helped identify several issues such as recognizing new partnerships and areas of need, as well as provided opportunities for program staff to identify areas for bridging social capital within and between partners. The community partner surveys for the Salinas Steps Program serve as a case study for developing a methodology to evaluate a multiple-intervention program in a community.

Success Stories from the YMCA/Steps Community Collaborative Projects…a new publication

We are pleased to announce that the YMCA of the USA and the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors (NACDD) have released a publication entitled "YMCA/Steps Community Collaborative Projects Success Stories–Partnerships that Expand the Potential: Building Healthy Spirit, Mind, and Body" which includes profiles of YMCA/Steps partnerships at the community level.

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The Steps Program discussed on an international stage…The 2nd National Social Marketing Conference in Oxford, England

Alyssa Easton, Steps Program Director, presented "Steps Program: Addressing Risk Behaviors through Social Marketing" as part of the 2nd National Social Marketing conference in Oxford, England September 24–25, 2007. Defined as the "systematic application of marketing concepts and techniques to achieve specific behavioral goals that are relevant to a social good," social marketing can help to address many of the key behavioral challenges faced by communities around the world—such as chronic disease. The conference celebrated key milestones including the development of the National Social Marketing Centre and the adoption by British governmental agencies of public health social marketing campaigns.

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Save the Date!...information about the upcoming grantee meeting, Towards a Sustainable Future for Community Health

The Healthy Communities Action Institute: Towards a Sustainable Future for Community Health
March 18-20, 2008

Alexandria, Virginia

Plan now to attend the Healthy Communities Action Institute, which will take place on March 18–20, 2008, in Alexandria, Virginia!

The Healthy Communities Action Institute: Towards a Sustainable Future for Community Health will showcase tools, resources and strategies for building healthy sustainable communities. The institute will feature 2 ½ days of plenary sessions, concurrent sessions and workshops, following three major themes: Policy, Organizational, Systems and Environmental Change; Sustaining Healthier Communities; and Measuring Success.

The Institute, which is open to all Steps communities and their partners as well as Steps National Partners, will provide Steps Communities with motivation and vision to implement successful strategies in their own programs and will reinforce local initiatives by linking them with national resources and networks.

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Steps Program Office updates…Announcement of New Steps Associate Director and New Program Staff

Announcement of Steps Associate Director
Richard (Rick) S. Roman has accepted the position of Associate Director for the Steps Program Office. Rick has been serving on a detail assignment since April2, 2007, as the Steps Program associate director, providing oversight and direction in the day-to-day operations of the program and working with the staff and the Division of Adolescent and Community Health/Office of the Director (DACH/OD) to develop a sustainability strategy as initial program funding concludes. Before joining the Steps program, Rick was the deputy director of the Healthy Aging Program and the deputy branch chief of the Health Care and Aging Studies Branch before it was reorganized and the Healthy Aging program was elevated to the DACH/OD. Before joining DACH/National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention (NCCDPHP) and Health Promotion in July, 2002, Rick was one of CDC’s emergency response coordinators for both bioterrorism at National Center for Infectious Disease, and the Emergency Response Coordination Group at National Center for Environmental Health. Rick represented the CDC on numerous national disaster events throughout the 1990s. He played an integral role in overseeing emergency response operations during the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, DC, and the subsequent anthrax investigations that followed. Prior to these experiences, Rick worked in STD/HIV prevention programs throughout the United States and served as the Sexually Transmitted Disease/Human immunodeficiency virus (STD/HIV) program director at the Miami-Dade County District program office of the Florida STD/HIV program, which at that time, was the 4th largest STD/HIV morbidity area in the country. Rick has more than 26 years of experience at CDC across four national centers. He holds a B.S. in Biochemistry from Syracuse University, and a M.S. in Health Services Administration from the University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center at Memphis.

New Program Staff

W. Roodly Archer, PhD, joined the Steps Program as part of the Translation and Dissemination Team on October 1, 2007. She has been involved with the development, translation, and dissemination of the recommendations of the Guide to Community Preventive Services (the Community Guide) Obesity Chapter for the work site setting as well as their complementary promising practices in the Division of Nutrition and Physical Activity at CDC. Roodly received her PhD in nutrition from Laval University, Quebec, Canada.

Ann Ussery-Hall joined the Steps Program Office in July. She works with the Program Planning and Evaluation Team of the Steps office. Prior to that, Ann worked at the DeKalb County Board of Health, where she was the evaluation coordinator for DeKalb Steps. Before working at DeKalb she was a fellow at CDC’s Division of Reproductive Health. She received her Master of Public Health from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and her Bachelor of Arts from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Andrae Ivy is a native of New Albany, Mississippi. He received his Bachelor of Science (BS) degree in Biology from Grambling State University in 2004. In 2006, Andrae obtained his Master of Public Health (MPH) degree in Epidemiology from Saint Louis University. The following fall, Andrae became a fellow in the Association of Schools of Public Health (ASPH) Fellowship in the Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention at the CDC. There, he was involved in projects on evaluation, epidemiology, communication and public policy. Andrae will be helping to translate and disseminate success stories from Steps Programs.

Joseph Ralph joined the Steps Program in early September as a public health advisor with Northrop Grumman. He is part of the Program Development Team and working on several issues related to community support and sustainability. He worked in a similar capacity with the National Fruit and Vegetable Program in the Division of Nutrition and Physical Activity at CDC. He is also assisting with the translation and dissemination of community success stories. Joe received his Masters in Public Health, with a community health concentration, from the University of Tennessee. He worked as a health educator at the Memphis and Shelby County Health Department before coming to CDC.

Branalyn Williams received her Bachelor of Science in Health and Exercise Science from Wake Forest University and her MPH from the Boston University School of Public Health. She joined the Steps program in September 2007 at the completion of the 3-year Public Health Prevention Service (PHPS) fellowship. While in PHPS, she completed two, 6-month rotations at CDC, the first with the Division of STD Prevention/Program Development Support Branch and the second with the NCCDPHP/Mental Health team. Branalyn was assigned to the Louisville Department of Public Health and Wellness for her 2- year field assignment. She was primarily responsible for managing the Mayor’s Healthy Hometown Movement, and serving as the Regional Coordinator for the Kentucky State Obesity Prevention program. Branalyn will be working on the ACHIEVE Initiative as part of the Translation and Dissemination team.

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New Resource Alert…Prevention Institutes “Reducing Health Care Costs Through Prevention”

The Prevention Institute* and The California Endowment, in consultation with the Urban Institute, prepared this report to demonstrate the value of prevention for saving health care dollars. Primary prevention—with an emphasis on improving the environments where Californians live, work, play, and go to school—is a prescription for reducing the burden of cardiovascular disease on the health care system, thereby reducing the cost associated with preventable conditions.

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

• March 5–7, 2008…..Atlanta, GA
  ACHI Annual Conference*, sponsored by The Association for Community Health Improvement
• March 15–19, 2008…..Orlando, FL
  2008 BRFSS Conference, sponsored by CDC's Behavior Surveillance Branch.
• April 13–16, 2008…..Amsterdam, the Netherlands
  2nd International Congress on Physical Activity and Public Health*, “Beyond the barriers: cutting edge approaches to physical activity and public health” Sponsored by CDC’s Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity.
• May 5–8, 2008…..Orlando, FL
  2008 Diabetes Conference, sponsored by CDC’s Division of Diabetes Translation.

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*Links to non-Federal organizations are provided solely as a service to our users. Links do not constitute an endorsement of any organization by CDC or the Federal Government, and none should be  inferred. The CDC is not responsible for the content of the individual organization Web pages found at this link.

Page last reviewed: May 2, 2008
Page last modified: July 29, 2008
Content source: Division of Adult and Community Health, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion