The Healthy Environments Active Living (HEAL) Program at the Utah Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) located at 288 North 1460 West, Salt Lake City, Utah 84116-3231, is applying for funding for CDC-RFA-DP23-0012. HEAL has a long history of successes in implementing strategies for obesity prevention which include food service guidelines, building walkable communities, increasing compliance with the federal lactation accommodation law, and implementing healthy nutrition, physical activity, and breastfeeding policies in Early Care and Education (ECE) centers. HEAL will implement state level policies and activities that will be implemented through local health departments (LHDs). HEAL will conduct this work through diverse partnerships that incorporate Utah’s 13 LHDs with a statewide geographical reach. HEAL will collaborate with partners to implement strategies to advance policy, system, environmental, and behavioral changes that will have a statewide impact on obesity prevention and management. HEAL will address health equity by focusing on a priority population encompassing adults aged 35 to 64, adults with a disability, adults who are Hispanic, and adults in low-income households. Resources will be tailored to reach members of these populations, but the reach and impact of this work will be applied statewide. HEAL will implement food service and nutrition guidelines by training partners on its own toolkit, Eat Well Utah. HEAL will work with pantries and government entities to expand on its past success encouraging food service operations to promote healthier foods. HEAL will establish novel partnerships to promote the use of produce prescriptions and food voucher incentives. HEAL will train LHDs to educate community and clinical partners on the health benefits of SNAP and WIC and give them the tools to assist eligible patients and clients to enroll. HEAL will work to increase access to places for physical activity by implementing pol
icies and networks to connect pedestrians and bike riders to destinations. In addition to educating partners on active transportation, physical activity and health, HEAL will engage community organizations in suggesting policy and environmental changes and provide technical assistance to government agencies and communities in promoting safe places for recreation. HEAL will leverage work in clinics to implement Parks Rx (a prescription for physical activity). HEAL will continue to enroll ECEs into the Teaching Obesity Prevention in Childcare Settings (TOP Star) Program by training LHDs to recruit and endorse childcare facilities. This work will be augmented by building on the Farm to Fork ECE Program and establishing an infrastructure for procurement of local produce. HEAL will develop and promote a Farm to ECE education program by providing resources. HEAL has had notable success working with partners to implement a program aimed to increase initiation and duration of breastfeeding of infants born in hospitals. HEAL will build on implemented breastfeeding work by expanding the hospital program to include neonatal intensive care units. The program has had similar success helping worksites become compliant with the federal lactation accommodations law. This effort will be enhanced by establishing prenatal breastfeeding support for employees prior to delivery. To further support continuity of care for breastfeeding, HEAL will work to increase parents’ access to lactation consultants who provide support through home visitations and will assist in conducting a breastfeeding campaign with a unified message promoted by multiple partners. HEAL has a rigorous evaluation system in place that will demonstrate the success of these efforts. HEAL will provide updates on its efforts and announce its successes through various media modes. The work proposed in this application will ultimately lead to improved health behaviors and outcomes and reduce health disparities in chronic co
nditions.
