Program Success Stories:
Implementing Healthy Changes in Communities

The initial 10 ACHIEVE communities, selected in January 2008, are applying policy, systems, and environmental change strategies at the local level to help prevent chronic disease. These population-based change strategies have been found to be an effective approach to improving the health of communities. In its first year of funding, community action is taking shape and there are already successful intervention results to report. For example,

• Salamanca, New York, facilitated the successful adoption of a city ordinance that protects children and adults from exposure to secondhand smoke and encourages nonsmoking by banning smoking in all city parks and playgrounds.
• Stark County, Ohio, has assisted local employers with creating workplace policies that promote employee physical activity during work time, lunch, and breaks.
• Wichita, Kansas, with assistance from nationally recognized policy experts, educated city leaders about walkable and bikeable communities through its Working Well Conference.
• Black Hawk, Iowa, despite devastating flooding in the summer of 2008, is moving toward creating a “walkable community” through improved built environments and policy changes to encourage nonmotorized commutes and walkable destinations, as well as support for the Safe Routes to Schools program.
• Tacoma–Pierce County, Washington, is working on improving young people’s nutrition and increasing physical activity opportunities that focus on underserved communities through joint-use policies that would enable the general public to use schools’ exercise facilities during nonschool hours.
  

Steps communities have implemented effective chronic disease prevention activities that are transforming the face of local public health. The Steps Program in Action: Success Stories on Community Initiatives to Prevent Chronic Diseases (PDF–917K) is a 44-page booklet illustrating community interventions in schools, work sites, communities, and health care settings that promote healthier lifestyles and assist people in making sustainable changes to reduce their risks for chronic diseases. Read about other examples in Steps in the News.

Great strides have been made by the communities participating in Pioneering Healthier Communities. The interventions described in the 52-page report entitled YMCA Activate America: Lessons Learned from Pioneering Healthier Communities (PDF–1.6M) illustrate the advances that have been made in creating awareness of, providing opportunities for, and removing barriers to healthier lifestyles. These stories can serve as models and inspiration for other communities committed to creating changes that reinforce good health.

REACH U.S. communities implement and evaluate community-based strategies for eliminating racial and ethnic health disparities, which adds to the science of attaining health equity. By sharing effective strategies and best practices, REACH U.S. disseminates to communities and public health programs across the country the valuable tools they need to eliminate health disparities in minority populations. Learn more about its successful activities through The Power to Reduce Health Disparities: Voices from REACH Communities (PDF–6.7M) and REACHing Across the Divide: Finding Solutions to Health Disparities (PDF–1.9M).

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