Prevention Institute

Twelve years ago this month, Prevention Institute opened its doors with the goal of catalyzing and advancing environmental and policy change approaches aimed at preventing illness and injury in the first place. In the years since, we've worked hard alongside valued partners and colleagues to build a movement for prevention. We've partnered with communities across the country to draw from local input and wisdom in order to develop innovative strategies that improve health. Governments and foundations have also taken up the cause of prevention, using their vision, leadership, and resources to support environmental and policy change and to scale-up prevention efforts across the nation.

This year, prevention has gained unprecedented visibility on the national agenda. Some of this year's highlights and accomplishments are detailed below. With these successes, we've established a strong foundation for future prevention efforts. And to celebrate our anniversary, Prevention Institute has compiled our prevention wish list: Twelve Ways to Advance Prevention for the Future.

I'd love to hear from you as well. What are your goals for the future of prevention? Send me your thoughts and ideas, and together we'll continue to build momentum to advance prevention and promote health and equity.

Larry Cohen
Executive Director,
Prevention Institute

Prevention Highlights & Accomplishments

$650 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds dedicated to prevention and wellness, and the launch of the Communities Putting Prevention to Work (CPPW) initiative, which dedicates $373 million in ARRA funds to support states', tribes' and local governments' environmental and policy change efforts to prevent chronic disease.

Signaling a federal commitment to health equity, the Congressional Tri-Caucus released the Health Equity and Accountability Act. A number of the Act's equity provisions have since been incorporated into the House Health Reform bill.

National attention and support for the inclusion of community prevention in Health Reform. View Prevention Institute's Health Reform advocacy page.

Growing awareness that prevention saves money and lives. An investment of $10 per person per year in programs to increase physical activity, improve nutrition, and prevent tobacco use could save the country more than $16 billion in annual health care costs within five years. For more information, click here.

Numerous cities across the country have committed to incorporating prevention strategies into their efforts to address violence, by signing on to the Urban Networks to Increase Thriving Youth (UNITY) initiative.

A growing movement for primary prevention to address violence against women, sexual violence, and child abuse.

Establishment of a Federal Interagency Partnership for Sustainable Communities, reflective of California's Interagency Strategic Growth Council.

Prevention Institute's text, Prevention is Primary, has struck a sustained chord within the public health community and continues to be a best-seller.

Prevention Institute has used our unique approach and set of tools to train thousands of professionals and practitioners on cutting-edge prevention research and practice, building capacity to implement strong, effective, collaborative efforts to improve health outcomes.

Working with PolicyLink, on behalf of the National Convergence Partnership, Prevention Institute has released Healthy, Equitable Transportation Policy: Recommendations and Research, which delineates concrete policy options to support health and equity in federal transportation policy.

Increasing commitment by the chronic disease prevention field to convergence and collaboration across sectors and issues, such as planning, safety, and economic development, as integral to advancing systems change.

Prevention Institute celebrates these milestones in prevention.

The PI Anniversary Wish List:

Twelve Ways to Advance Prevention for the Future

1. Health in all Policies: Work with leaders in health and other sectors to develop a shared understanding of why health is more than just health care—and take action accordingly.
2. Equitable Health Outcomes: Scale up efforts to integrate equity into policy decisions at the federal, state, and local level, including a congressional or administrative resolution for equity in all policies.
3. Public Health Leadership: Cultivate leaders in health and related sectors with a new vision of health in which prevention is primary and provide them the skills to lead the next generation of change.
4. Comprehensive Approaches to Create Healthy Economies: Advance policy and practice solutions that improve the organizational practices of business and industry; make it bad business to promote unhealthy products, actions, and norms.
5. Breaking Down Silos: Restructure government to address risk and resilience factors and social determinants of health.
6. Health Reform: Pass Health Reform with the inclusion of a public option and substantial investment in community prevention and equity.
7. The Big Legislation: Build on recent federal advocacy efforts to ensure that health, equity, and sustainability are represented in the upcoming Transportation, Child Nutrition Re-Authorization, and Farm bills.
8. Violence Prevention: Increase dedicated national funding to support large cities' efforts to prevent violence.
9. Health Impact Assessments: Incorporate health impact assessments into funding, policy, and land-use decisions at state and local level.
10. Statewide Prevention Fund: Pass a fee or tax on soda and sugar-sweetened beverages to support state and local prevention efforts.
11. Child Marketing: Pass legislation to prohibit direct marketing to children.
12. Health for the Next Generation: Recognize breastfeeding as a public health priority by adopting policies and practices that support and encourage breastfeeding in hospitals, workplaces, and communities.