Public Health Strategy

Public Health

STRATEGY 1

Public health organizations should develop and maintain a workforce with competence and expertise in physical activity and health and that has ethnic, cultural, and gender diversity. (PH-1)

TACTICS:

Build the capacity of practitioners to monitor key outcome measures of chosen physical activity interventions. (PH-1.2)

Increase the number of Master’s of Public Health (MPH) programs that provide training on physical activity and its promotion. Increase the number of graduates from these programs. (PH-1.4)

Encourage professional societies to sponsor scholarship programs for students of diverse racial, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds; students with disabilities; and students representing groups at particular risk of physical inactivity. (PH-1.6)

Collaborate with a wide range of organizations, including those representing minority ethnic groups and persons with disabilities, to build a diverse public health work force that is well prepared to promote physical activity. (PH-1.7)

Support and expand training opportunities (e.g., Physical Activity and Public Health Course) based on core competencies for practitioners, paraprofessionals, community health workers, and professionals from other sectors. (PH-1.8)

Develop interdisciplinary training to ensure that physical activity and public health concepts are connected to other disciplines; also include leadership development and team-building. (PH-1.9)

Staff these units with certified Physical Activity and Public Health Specialists and with professionals from other disciplines with whom public health must collaborate in order to provide opportunities for physical activity within communities. (PH-1.12)

Encourage professional societies in public health to adopt and disseminate core competencies for public health practitioners in physical activity, update the core competencies regularly. (PH-1.14)

Public health agencies should create, maintain, and leverage cross-sectoral partnerships and coalitions that implement evidence-based strategies to promote physical activity. (PH-2)

TACTICS:

Encourage and train public health professionals to work with, educate, and learn from partners in order to strengthen the effectiveness of the partnership and the efforts of each member. (PH-2.2)

Increase networking and collaboration between practitioners, researchers, community-based organizations, and advocates. (PH-2.3)

Collaborate with agencies representing persons with disabilities and other populations affected by health disparities. (PH-2.4)

Collaborate with “non-traditional” partners to increase the reach of interventions and encourage social capital. Encourage partnerships between local and state health agencies and scientists in academic and private settings to conduct community participatory research to facilitate the dissemination of evidence-based practices to promote physical activity. (PH-2.5)

Non-profit public health organizations should engage in policy development and advocacy¹ to elevate the priority of physical activity in public health practice, policy, and research. (PH-3)

TACTICS:

Advocate for the creation of an Office within the NIH Office of the Director, to be responsible for coordinating and monitoring research funding for physical activity across all NIH Institutes. (PH-3.2)

Advocate for a policy that ensure the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans are updated every five years. (PH-3.3)

Advocate for an update in the CDC’s Guide to Community Preventive Services on approaches aimed to increase physical activity behavior. (PH-3.4)

Use the most current version of the federal Physical Activity Guidelines and related documents as a foundation for physical activity advocacy and policy development. (PH-3.5)

Capitalize on the Surgeon General’s Call to Action on Walking and Walkability as an opportunity for advocacy with Congress, state legislatures, and other potential funders for physical activity promotion, walking, and community infrastructure that can support walking. (PH-3.6)

Develop an advocacy strategy for coordinated and appropriately funded physical activity research in multiple funding agencies. (PH-3.7)

Encourage local, state, and national public health organizations to collaboratively engage in policy development and advocacy. (PH-3.9)

Engage community-based organizations that represent neighborhoods in policy development, accountability, and advocacy activities. (PH-3.10)

Engage grassroots organizations that have demonstrated success in other public health arenas (e.g., tobacco control), and provide incentives for training and participation in population-based physical activity promotion. (PH-3.11)

Tailor policy messages for diverse audiences and settings. Identify and engage underserved populations. Target policy messages for each population, segment, and setting. (PH-3.12)

Create a long- and short-term communication schedule for advocacy. (PH-3.13)

Create an interdisciplinary policy and advocacy center to support advocacy efforts and policy development for physical activity in public health agencies and support advocacy efforts. (PH-3.14)

Identify and promote advocacy training opportunities for public health professionals and professionals from other sectors with whom public health can work to promote physical activity. (PH-3.15)

Disseminate information on evidence-based policies related to physical activity by participating in advocacy networks, with emphasis on educating partners at local, state, and national levels. (PH-3.16)

¹ Advocacy refers to educating decision makers at all levels while honoring the legal limitations associated with the use of public funds.

STRATEGY 4

Public health agencies should expand monitoring of policy and environmental determinants of physical activity and the levels of physical activity in communities (surveillance), and should monitor implementation of public health approaches to promoting active lifestyles (evaluation). (PH-4)

TACTICS:

Define a common framework to evaluate policy and environmental change processes, outcomes, and impacts. (PH-4.2)

Build the capacity of practitioners to monitor key outcome measures of chosen interventions. (PH-4.3)

Improve and expand surveillance of physical fitness and physical activity, including light activity, using objective measures of physical activity when feasible. (PH-4.5)

Expand surveillance systems to include the systematic assessment of physical activity and fitness levels of diverse populations of children and youth. For relevant surveillance systems, include state-level reporting, when feasible. (PH-4.7)

Improve linkages between local policy and environmental change and national and state data collection systems. (PH-4.8)

Provide health data that allows communities to understand the burden of inactivity in their communities, and to tailor approaches to increase physical activity to local circumstances. (PH-4.10)

STRATEGY 5

Public health organizations should disseminate tools and resources important to promoting physical activity, including resources that address the burden of disease due to inactivity, the implementation of evidence-based interventions, and funding opportunities for physical activity initiatives. (PH-5)

TACTICS:

Promote the use of existing tools and resources and identify promising practices, particularly those addressing the needs of underserved populations. (PH-5.1)

Disseminate physical activity-promoting practices and policies targeted at agencies and professional societies outside of public health (e.g., youth-serving social services, non-profits in underserved communities, transportation and planning, sports and recreation, education, environmental protection). (PH-5.3)

Identify and support expansion of culturally salient tools that build upon community assets to promote physical activity across all population groups. (PH-5.4)

Identify and create tools and resources appropriate to supporting and advancing the work of physical activity practitioners and researchers. (PH-5.5)

STRATEGY 6

Public health agencies should invest equitably in physical activity, commensurate with its impact on disease prevention and health promotion. (PH-6)

TACTICS:

Provide resources in state and local health agencies and programs for physical activity comparable to resources provided for tobacco and nutrition. Provide sustainable funding for state and local health departments so that Physical Activity and Public Health Specialists can create and implement initiatives that promote physical activity. (PH-6.1)

Fund public health professional societies, schools of public health, and other academic units engaged in physical activity research to develop tools and resources for policymakers and practitioners that support the promotion of physical activity in communities. (PH-6.2)

Provide sustained funding and resources to local, state, and national public health agencies that support physical activity practitioners to act as conveners of multi-sector coalitions and to provide leadership for strategic partnerships. (PH-6.3)

Encourage CDC and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to invest in capacity building by supporting MPH and PhD programs, continuing medical education, short courses, and distance-based training for physical activity and public health through the Prevention Research Centers (PRCs) and other mechanisms. (PH-6.4)

Increase funding of CDC, Prevention Research Centers, the Physical Activity Policy Research Network (PAPRN), and the National Institutes of Health to conduct research on policy development and its impact on physical activity. (PH-6.5)