Technical Assistance From State Health Departments for Communities Engaged in Policy, Systems, and Environmental Change: The ACHIEVE Program

Details

• Journal Article:
  Preventing Chronic Disease (PCD)
• Personal Author:
  Hefelfinger, Jenny ; Patty, Alice ; Ussery, Ann ; Young, Walter
• Description:
  Introduction
  
  This study assessed the value of technical assistance provided by state health department expert advisors and by the staff of the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors (NACDD) to community groups that participated in the Action Communities for Health, Innovation, and Environmental Change (ACHIEVE) Program, a CDC-funded health promotion program.
  
  Methods
  
  We analyzed quantitative and qualitative data reported by community project coordinators to assess the nature and value of technical assistance provided by expert advisors and NACDD staff and the usefulness of ACHIEVE resources in the development and implementation of community action plans. A grounded theory approach was used to analyze and categorize phrases in text data provided by community coordinators. Open coding placed conceptual labels on text phrases. Frequency distributions of the quantitative data are described and discussed.
  
  Results
  
  The most valuable technical assistance and program support resources were those determined to be in the interpersonal domain (ie, interactions with state expert advisors, NACDD staff, and peer-to-peer support). The most valuable technical assistance events were action institutes, coaches’ meetings, webinars, and technical assistance conference calls.
  
  Conclusion
  
  This analysis suggests that ACHIEVE communities valued the management and training assistance provided by expert advisors and NACDD staff. State health department expert advisors provided technical guidance and support, including such skills or knowledge-based services as best-practice strategies, review and discussion of community assessment data, sustainability planning, and identification of possible funding opportunities. NACDD staff led development and implementation of technical assistance events.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Community Health Planning Community Health Services Environment Health Policy Humans Original Research Public Health Administration
• Source:
  Prev Chronic Dis. 10.
• DOI:
  http://dx.doi.org/10.5888/pcd10.130093
• ISSN:
  1545-1151
• Pubmed ID:
  24157078
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC3809920
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  5U58DP002759/DP/NCCDPHP CDC HHS/United States
• Name as Subject:
  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S.) ; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S.)
• Place as Subject:
  United States
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  10
• Collection(s):
  Preventing Chronic Disease
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:241be68a88abb71ab40c2e273438803bd36c039dd8bacf2e427f2b97e4a66d65a76cc5bd6b79bb275ac3d29badbeaee3b552d595576803702c71720122cb0002
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/21027/cdc_21027_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 389.63 KB ]