All communities need access to healthy foods and safe places to play and be active—but not all communities enjoy equal access to these vital means of health. We take a systems approach to improving access to healthy foods and opportunities for physical activity—working across a spectrum of issues, from agriculture, education, land use and transportation, to economic development, industry regulation, and safety. We believe health equity should be the core goal in our national efforts to reduce diet- and activity-related chronic disease, and our work strives to understand how communities experiencing inequities can be best supported in the creation of neighborhoods, cities, and regions that foster health. Through a focus on federal policy, along with state and local research, consultation, and capacity building, we promote cross-sector, equity-focused solutions to promote healthy food and activity environments.
In Healthy Development without Displacement: Realizing the Vision of Healthy Communities for All, we explore: What can people working on “healthy community” issues—like active transportation, parks, healthy food, planning, public health, healthcare, and more—do in their own work to improve community conditions without contributing to gentrification and displacement?
Across the country, healthy food and activity leaders have identified violence and the fear of violence as major roadblocks to the success of chronic disease prevention strategies. This PI report provides an explanation of the inter-relationship between violence and healthy eating and activity.
This Rapid Response Framing Brief shows how framing can help or hinder people's ability to see the ways environments shape health.
Co-published by Prevention Institute and Jossey Bass and APHA, Prevention is Primary describes the overarching foundation and principles guiding primary prevention efforts and highlights prevention practice through a range of social and health issues, including chronic disease, HIV, violence, and mental health.
Published in the Californian Journal of Health Promotion, this article sheds light on the five unintended consequences of "obesity," and provides strategies to remove us from a focus on the "O" word and from blaming the individual for their condition.
The Spectrum of Prevention is a systematic tool that promotes a multifaceted range of activities for effective prevention. The Spectrum identifies multiple levels of intervention and helps people move beyond the perception that prevention is merely education and serves as a framework for a more comprehensive understanding of prevention that includes six levels for strategy development.
Collaboration Multiplier is an interactive framework and tool for analyzing collaborative efforts across fields. It is designed to guide an organization to a better understanding of which partners it needs and how to engage them.
We’ve got more than 25 years of experience supporting community collaboratives, practitioners, funders, and jurisdictions. Check out our services and reach out.