Development of the policy indicator checklist: a tool to identify and measure policies for calorie-dense foods and sugar-sweetened beverages across multiple settings

Evaluating sustainability in the Childhood Obesity Research Demonstration project: the model and process

Background

In the context of health-related interventions, sustainability is the capacity to maintain the changes resulting from the intervention. These can be improved policies, practices or trends intended to improve population health. The Childhood Obesity Research Demonstration (CORD) project was a multi-site, multi-intervention collaboration testing the Obesity Chronic Care Model with interventions for childhood obesity prevention and management. We present the model, definitions and methodology used for the cross-site sustainability evaluation of CORD.

Methods

We applied the Ecologic Model of Obesity to childhood obesity interventions to operationalize four sustainability constructs: replicability, continuation of benefits, institutionalization, and community capacity. We used a triangulation approach and employed mixed methods to assess sustainability constructs at each level of the Ecologic Model of Obesity: Micro, Meso, Exo and Macro. We constructed checklists to count and code intervention activities, use of evidence-based practices among providers, and environmental factors and policies hypothesized to influence intervention sustainability. We developed in-depth interviews for principal investigators and project leads. We applied the Wilder Collaboration Factors Inventory with key stakeholders.

Results

Lessons learned suggested that sustainability constructs should be clearly identified and operationalized a priori. Constructs must be flexible to account for differences between intervention plans and implementation to obtain robust and informative data.

Conclusion

Strong links are needed among researchers, program implementers and communities to accomplish consistent, robust and valuable data collection efforts to assure sustainable and healthy communities.

Association of School Physical Activity Policies With Student Physical Activity Behavior

Background: Few studies have examined school physical activity policies to assess dose-response on student outcomes. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association between health-promoting physical activity policies in elementary schools and physical activity behavior. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, physical activity was assessed using self-report measures in fourth-grade students in Texas (N = 1958, x = 9.66 y) from the School Physical Activity and Nutrition (SPAN) survey. School policies were assessed using the number of health-promoting policies in place taken from the SPAN School Health Survey with principals and their proxies. Multiple linear regressions adjusted for student- and school-level confounders and school clustering were performed. Results: School physical activity policies were significantly associated with student-level physical activity behavior (P < .05), even after controlling for the student- and school-level confounding variables. The interactions between physical activity policy-by-economic disadvantage (P < .01) and between physical activity policy-by-geographic strata (P < .01) were both significant, with stronger direct effects of policies on student physical activity for economically disadvantaged schools and major urban schools. Conclusion: Results from this study provide evidence for the importance of school-based health policies and practices in potentially reducing health disparities, especially in low-income and urban schools.

Childhood Obesity Research Demonstration project: cross-site evaluation methods

INTRODUCTION

The Childhood Obesity Research Demonstration (CORD) project links public health and primary care interventions in three projects described in detail in accompanying articles in this issue of Childhood Obesity. This article describes a comprehensive evaluation plan to determine the extent to which the CORD model is associated with changes in behavior, body weight, BMI, quality of life, and healthcare satisfaction in children 2-12 years of age.

DESIGN/METHODS

The CORD Evaluation Center (EC-CORD) will analyze the pooled data from three independent demonstration projects that each integrate public health and primary care childhood obesity interventions. An extensive set of common measures at the family, facility, and community levels were defined by consensus among the CORD projects and EC-CORD. Process evaluation will assess reach, dose delivered, and fidelity of intervention components. Impact evaluation will use a mixed linear models approach to account for heterogeneity among project-site populations and interventions. Sustainability evaluation will assess the potential for replicability, continuation of benefits beyond the funding period, institutionalization of the intervention activities, and community capacity to support ongoing program delivery. Finally, cost analyses will assess how much benefit can potentially be gained per dollar invested in programs based on the CORD model.

CONCLUSIONS

The keys to combining and analyzing data across multiple projects include the CORD model framework and common measures for the behavioral and health outcomes along with important covariates at the individual, setting, and community levels. The overall objective of the comprehensive evaluation will develop evidence-based recommendations for replicating and disseminating community-wide, integrated public health and primary care programs based on the CORD model.