How was ENACT developed? |
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The menu of ENACT strategies highlights promising approaches to improving opportunities for physical activity and healthy eating on the local level, drawing on multiple levels of evidence from academic research to community successes. With funding from The California Endowment, the initial strategy list was developed based on a 2003 comprehensive national scan of environmental and policy approaches utilized across the country to improve eating and activity environments. Based on the findings of this scan, Prevention Institute identified an initial set of strategies that were then reviewed and refined by the Strategic Alliance Steering Committee, a diverse group of organizations working on nutrition and activity-related issues locally and statewide in California. The resulting first iteration of ENACT offered users 60 suggested strategies for improving physical activity and nutrition in seven key environments.
The tool has been significantly updated and expanded since the original launch of the web tool. In 2006, Prevention Institute convened a National Advisory Panel of academics and practitioners with expertise in at least one of the seven ENACT environments. Each advisor was tasked with reviewing the content of ENACT to strengthen the resources offered and to ensure that the list of strategies reflected the range of the most promising strategies. The tool was pilot tested, with guidance from advisors, in six sites across the U.S. that all focus their efforts on low-income and underserved communities. Pilot communities included: Louisville, KY, Charlotte, NC, Detroit, MI, St. Petersburg, FL, Cleveland, OH, and Austin, TX. The pilot testing provided valuable advice on enhancing user friendliness and strategy options that we are implementing as resources permit.
In 2007, with funding from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Prevention Institute updated the ENACT tool to include strategies that promote a sustainable food system. Prevention Institute staff spoke with sustainable food system experts and conducted a national scan of groups working to support a more sustainable food system to determine which new strategies should be added to the tool. By linking current efforts to improve nutrition and physical activity environments with the sustainable food system movement, ENACT users now have access to strategies that promote human health, protect the environment, and provide a livable income and fair working conditions for growers and laborers.
The current iteration of the tool includes a total of 75 strategies across the seven key environments. The tool is continually being revised to ensure that the information is current, user-friendly, and representative of the field. Prevention Institute staff continue to monitor the latest information in the field, in order to stay abreast of emerging strategies and add new resources to existing strategies.
Thanks to our funders, The California Endowment, Kaiser Permanente, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, for making ENACT possible.