Cooperative Extension as a Partner in Creating Healthy Communities: An Environmental Scan

Abstract

Nationally, researchers and practitioners from all disciplines have been tasked with fully collaborating to reverse overall decline in health. One overarching goal of the Healthy People 2020 initiative is to attain high-quality, longer lives free of preventable disease, disability, injury, and death (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, 2017). Since Cooperative Extension System (CES) programs engage citizens in every county in the U.S., the objectives of the Chronic Disease Prevention and Management (CDPM) Action Team were to identify (1) existing curricula, projects and programs currently implemented and (2) perceived barriers to health-related programming. The team constructed an environmental scan to capture the scope of health and wellness programming from Extension administrators, faculty, and agents/educators engaged in CDPM related programs and partnerships. Information from 152 respondents was reported for 69 programs from 17 states, representing all CES regions. Programs represented a wide range of topics, including diet/nutrition, physical activity, housing, and gardening, delivered in conjunction with a variety of community partners. Barriers to health-related programming primarily included lack of organizational support, time, training and knowledge, funding, and perceptions of priorities. The data provided a snapshot of current CES health-related programming and challenges of a comprehensive coordinated pathway to long, healthy lives.

Keywords

• health and wellness
• chronic disease prevention and management
• curriculum
• cooperative extension
• extension
• health programming
• health and wellness framework
• ecop action teams