Thursday, November 21, 2024
11/21/2024
The SPAN program will be implemented in Illinois by the Illinois Public Health Institute (IPHI) in collaboration with the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH). Elissa Bassler, IPHI CEO, and Tiffanie Pressley, Division Chief, Chronic Disease, IDPH Office of Health Promotion will serve as co-PIs. The Illinois Alliance to Prevent Obesity, founded by IPHI in 2010, will serve as the multi-sector umbrella coalition for the SPAN program. IAPO is comprised of governmental and non-governmental public health system groups addressing obesity and PA/N including public health, health care, agriculture, transportation, education, business, human services, advocacy. Illinois’ State Health Improvement Plan has identified chronic disease as one of five priority areas. According to the Trust for America’s Health, Illinois ranks 18th among the 50 states and Washington, DC in adult obesity. 29.5% of Illinois adults are obese, while 42.5% of Black adults and 34.7% of Hispanics are obese. The purpose of the proposed Illinois SPAN program is to reduce disparities in PA/N in order to reduce chronic disease and increase health and well-being in Illinois. The Illinois SPAN program will build on an extensive history of implementing federal, state and privately funded PA/N interventions and will employ evidence-based strategies at the state and local level. The partners will work to increase the number of places that: implement FSG; implement supportive breastfeeding interventions; implement community planning and transportation systems that support safe and accessible PA; and to increase the number of ECE systems that implement PA/N standards. Partners in this initiative include the Illinois, Chicago, Cook County, Jackson County, and Peoria City/County health departments and leaders in active transportation, FSG, early childhood, and academia. The priority populations are low-income individuals in communities with higher burden of disease and poorer health outcome , with a specific focus on African American communities. We will work statewide and with three local regions: Chicago & Cook County; Peoria Tri-County; and Jackson/Healthy Southern Illinois Delta region. These sites were chosen because they have: 1) poorer health outcomes; 2) chronic disease and/or PA/N as priorities in the Community Health Improvement Plan; 3) potential reach; 4) unique opportunities or building blocks in one or more of the strategies; and 5) capacity of the LHD & local partners to achieve program goals. The Illinois SPAN Program evaluation and performance measurement plan includes a process evaluation (to report on program activities) and a performance evaluation (to compare progress towards the key intermediate-term performance indicators. Dr. Jamie Chriqui, professor in the UIC School of Public Health and co-Director of the Health Policy Center in the Institute for Health Research and Policy will be the lead evaluator. We have the organizational capacity to implement this program, including established nutrition coordinator and physical activity coordinator and administrative, evaluation and performance monitoring ability. Training and technical assistance are core IPHI capabilities in PA/N and organizational capacities like planning and quality improvement. Our staffing plan includes a PI, Co-PI, program manager, nutrition and physical activity coordinators, communications coordinator, and administrative support. We will use tools like Asana and Salesforce to manage project activities and reporting. We are ready to implement this program upon notice of award. As a non-governmental organization, we have no administrative barriers to hiring, contracting, or setting up systems. We and our partners have extensive experience in all five of the NOFO strategies. As the conveners of the Illinois Alliance to Prevent Obesity, we can immediately mobilize governmental and non-governmental partners and allies to start work.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).
