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.
PI works with a breadth of partners and communities to develop strategies and practices to keep people healthy and safe in the first place. Below is a selection of ongoing or recent projects.
With support from the Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity (DNPAO) at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Prevention Institute and Equitable Cities developed a policy guide to build the capacity of local government and policymakers to implement equitable transportation and land use policies and investments.
This collaborative is developing a COVID-19 policy agenda that takes the need for stable housing, mental health and wellbeing, food security, and equitable enforcement of emergency and public health powers into account.
With funding from First 5 LA, Prevention Institute worked with community-based organizations, policy advocacy networks, and coalitions working to improve neighborhood conditions for children 0-5 and their families in Los Angeles County.
Through responsive technical assistance and training, PI supports Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) awardees across the country. Currently PI is supporting Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity (DNPAO) awardees that are part of the High Obesity Program (HOP) and State Physical Activity and Nutrition Program. We have also provided services to Community Transformation Grant (CTG) recipients and consulted with CDC’s ACHIEVE communities. Our technical assistance work focuses on equity, multisector partnerships, and community engagement.
Prevention Institute provides ongoing guidance, strategy development, and policy analysis for the Convergence Partnership - a national collaborative of funders in the United States whose goal of policy and environmental change will help reinvent communities.
We research and write reports, white papers, fact sheets, opinion pieces, and journal articles, as well as produce videos and podcasts. Here are some of our latest offerings.
A Decade of Advocacy is a case study of the Strategic Alliance, a network of 15 California-based organizations that came together to promote healthy food and activity environments. This document provides a roadmap for effective collaboration, and highlights the impact a group of organizations can have when working together to effect change.
This Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guide, developed with help from Prevention Institute, helps public health practitioners advance health equity through community prevention strategies.
Prevention Institute, parents, advocates, public health officials and organizations across the country are calling for President Obama to step in and protect voluntary guidelines for food marketing to children. Sign the petition and join us.
The stage is set for health and nutrition professionals to ally with other groups advocating for healthful and sustainable food in calling for government and industry policies that reshape our food system into one that supplies us with healthful food. Please join us in supporting this vision.
Advancing Community Prevention through the Champions for Change Peer-to-Peer Projects explores interwoven policy, systems and environmental change strategies to advance health and nutrition in Los Angeles County.
This brief by Prevention Institute and the American Public Health Association, examines the approaches local elected officials are taking to improve the health of their communities.
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.
We have developed a broad range of practical, free-to-use tools to guide practitioners, advocates, and policymakers in planning and implementing prevention strategies. We also provide services to help you use our tools to create healthy and safe communities.
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.
The Eight Steps to Effective Coalition Building is a framework for engaging individuals, organizations and governmental partners invested in addressing community concerns. The complete document offers concrete steps towards building effective partnerships and provides tips for making collaborations and partnerships work.
These profiles, written by PI and our partners, show what community prevention looks like on the ground, all across the country.
The #253 Making Connections Initiative (MCI) focuses on preventing mental health challenges and community trauma from occurring in the first place. Their activities range from cultivating food in urban gardens to participating in a tribal canoe journey, and most of them link to deep cultural traditions.
Recognizing the injustice of living in a community with limited food options, residents and activists collaborated with local government officials to lobby for a new supermarket. After five years of tireless efforts and shifting strategies, the community group Partners Through Food successfully convinced a major grocery chain to bring a full-service supermarket into the community.
Boston Lead-Safe Yard Project uses affordable techniques to mitigate exposure to lead in inner-city yards. Now that they have proven that affordable remediation techniques can reduce urban lead exposure, project members are working to ensure these effective lead-safe yard techniques are applied in neighborhoods across the country.
Vacant lots of land once strewn with garbage now bloom with new life in some of Denver’s poorest neighborhoods. Denver Urban gardens has been transforming unused lots onto community gardens, creating pockets of green in the midst of inner-city communities.
Watch the video and share! "We're Not Buying It" exposes deceptive marketing to children, debunks industry claims, and highlights the latest research. When we put children first, the plan of action is clear: companies should market the foods that keep kids healthy, not sugary cereals and other junk food. The IWG guidelines will help to do just that.
