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Making the Healthy Choice the Easy Choice: Supporting Healthy Eating and Active Living through Systems Level Approaches

• Laura Kettel Khan, PhD, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity
• Marsha Wilde, MPH, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment Prevention Services Division- Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention, Program Manager
• Moderators: Chanel Recasner, MPH, and Chris Thomas, MS, CHES, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention

Session Objective

The objectives for this session are to:

• Describe the potential impact of environment and policy on lifestyle behavior change.
• Describe how program integration can support individual behavior change strategies.
• Describe strategies aimed at supporting individual behavior change through systems level approaches.
• Develop a plan that utilizes successful individual behavioral change programs/strategies to impact change at the organizational/environmental level.

Session Summary

The session is designed for both the National Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention and WISEWOMAN program staff. The purpose of this session is to increase participants’ knowledge of the impact of organizational/environmental/policy systems on individual behavior change and their skill, and ability to enact systems changes in their State, tribal organization, or territory.

This session underscores the important role of the physical environment and the underlying policies, on the ability of individuals to make healthful lifestyle choices. Encouraging healthy eating when individuals do not have access to a local grocery store or recommending walking for physical activity when there are no sidewalks or local parks, makes it hard for people to comply with our recommendations. Speakers are to present the case for policy and environmental changes to support individual behavior change and show how program integration can play a big role in supporting systems changes that influence individual behavior change. Participants can share their experiences with systems level approaches and program integration/collaboration to support healthy eating and active living. The last 40 minutes of the session is an interactive small group exercise where participants are provided with a policy/environmental change scenario and discuss strategies for addressing the scenario through their individual program or by collaborating with partner programs to impact individual behavior changes on a systems level.

DHDSP Priority Areas/WISEWOMAN Goals and Objectives addressed: Improve quality of heart disease and stroke care, eliminate health disparities, and decrease heart disease and stroke risk factors of the WISEWOMAN population.

Performance Measure/Program Component addressed: Develop and implement plans for population- based intervention strategies; implement population-based interventions; develop, maintain, and evaluate partnerships; and implement Direct Services (Lifestyle intervention).

Session Materials

• CDC Recommended Community Strategies & Measures to Prevent Obesity in the U.S. (PPT, 991k)
• Policy/environmental and Systems Change Instructions for Small Group Discussion (PDF, 300k)
• Summary of Recommended Community Strategies and Measurements to Prevent Obesity in the United States (PDF, 188k)

Resources/References/Web Sites/Tools

• Practice-based, Research-tested, and Emerging Interventions that address nutrition, physical activity and obesity can be found at
  www.center-trt.org
• Research-tested Intervention Program website
  http://rtips.cancer.gov/rtips/index.do
• Theory at a Glance
  http://www.cancer.gov/PDF/481f5d53-63df-41bc-bfaf-5aa48ee1da4d/TAAG3.pdf