ASTHO is educating and encouraging public health leaders to promote the National Prevention Strategy in policymaking and program development. By collaborating across multiple sectors to address health disparities and empower individuals, promoting healthy communities and ensuring quality clinical and community preventive services, we can increase the number of Americans who are healthy at every stage of life. ASTHO will be developing resources, webinars, and state stories to support cross-sector implementation efforts. Please check back soon for more information.

ASTHO Resource Highlights Innovative Leadership to Support the National Prevention Strategy [digital edition] [PDF]

In support of the National Prevention Strategy, ASTHO produced this innovative resource to educate and empower public health leaders to promote a Health in All Policies (HiAP) approach to policymaking and program development. By collaborating across multiple sectors to address health disparities and empower individuals, promoting healthy communities, and ensuring quality clinical and community preventive services, we can increase the number of Americans who are healthy at every stage of life. To support your efforts, a description of the National Prevention Strategy is enclosed along with key talking points to explain a HiAP approach to other leaders in your state or locality’s government, characteristics of successful cross-sector collaboration, and a collection of state stories meant to inspire you into action! The toolkit is available in a page-turning digital edition as well as a PDF.

Celebrating Partnerships & Progress: The First Year of the National Prevention Strategy (webinar)

Marking the first anniversary of the National Prevention Strategy (NPS), this webinar hosted by ASTHO and NACCHO discussed how the NPS can be implemented at the state and local levels and how it can be used to support communities in maximizing the effectiveness of prevention efforts. Speakers included: United States Surgeon General, Regina M. Benjamin, MD, MBA; Betsy A. Pandora, MCRP, Columbus Public Health; Laura Gerald, MD, MPH, State Health Director, NC Division of Public Health; and Allison Karpyn, PhD, The Food Trust.

An Assessment of Cross-sector Collaboration in State Health Agencies

Across ASTHO, we promote and highlight the collaboration of state health agencies with other partners to help individuals be healthy at every stage of life. To further this effort, we are leveraging national initiatives such as the National Prevention Strategy and the concept of Health in All Policies. The initial phase of this assessment entailed an environmental scan to describe the current level of cross- sector collaboration among state health agencies. This analysis creates a baseline that will be utilized in coming years to gauge how collaboration changes.

ASTHO’s Expert Strategy Meeting on Obesity

The National Prevention Strategy offers intrinsic opportunities to prioritize prevention and enable cross-agency collaboration for the prevention of obesity and the promotion of healthy, safe, and active lifestyles. On May 18, 2011, ASTHO convened a multisectoral strategy meeting to discuss state agency opportunities in addressing the obesity epidemic, immediately following a similar meeting hosted by the Environmental Health Team on Smart Growth. The meeting assembled nationally-recognized experts, federal partners, and state agency staff to identify best practices and encourage sustainable, collaborative partnerships to address obesity prevention in urban and community planning. A forthcoming ASTHO publication will highlight the role of the state public health infrastructure in leading these efforts to work across agencies to foster healthier communities and confront the obesity epidemic.