Outcomes of a Community-Driven Planning Process to Create Comprehensive Health and Wellness Plans in Rural Schools.

AIM (Assess, Identify, Make it happen) is a community-engaged, data-driven, strategic planning process for school districts to develop and implement comprehensive health and wellness plans (CHWPs) aligned with the Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child (WSCC) model. AIM was facilitated in 21 rural school districts and an 81-item survey was administered to participants completing this process ( = 236). Those surveyed indicated that the benefits of AIM were more pronounced than challenges.

Assessing the Readiness of Rural Public Health Agencies for Facilitating a School-based Intervention.

Background: Partnerships are best positioned for success when the readiness of those engaged is assessed and discussed from the outset. Doing so requires an approach to readiness that is responsive to the particular context of the partnership.

Objectives: This study contributes to the topic of partnership readiness through a readiness assessment used with rural local public health agencies (LPHAs) to partner with a university research team on implementing a Kindergarten to 12th-grade school-based health intervention called Assess, Identify, Make it happen.

A Partnership Among Local Public Health Agencies, Elementary Schools, and a University to Address Childhood Obesity: A Scalable Model of the Assess, Identify, Make It Happen Process.

Background: One pathway to addressing childhood obesity is through implementing evidence-based practices (EBPs) shown to promote nutrition and physical activity in K-12 school settings. Assess, Identify, Make it happen (AIM) is a strategic planning process to engage stakeholders in implementing EBPs in their K-12 schools. Local Public Health Agencies (LPHAs) are a potential partner to facilitate this process to a broader audience of rural school communities.

The S.I.T.E. Framework: A Novel Approach for Sustainably Integrating Trauma-Informed Approaches in Schools.

Students who present as dysregulated due to the impacts of trauma and toxic stress can challenge educators and find themselves improperly or insufficiently supported, punitively consequenced and unable to equitably access education. Trauma-informed approaches based on an understanding of brain development and function have been put forth as best practice for supporting students with trauma histories. The novel Sustainably Integrated Trauma-Informed Education Framework (S.

Assess, Identify, Make it Happen (AIM) for Preschools: A Tool to Decrease Early Childhood Obesity.

Early childhood obesity is at epidemic proportions and is a major risk factor for the development of chronic diseases in adulthood. Since the majority of preschoolers are placed in center-based care, best practice policy, system, and environment (PSE) changes in early child care settings plays an important role in defining early development of obesogenic behaviors. However, implementation of best practice PSE changes is often a challenge in low resource settings due to staff turnover, time constraints, cultural beliefs, and lack of health-related knowledge.

A Community-Engaged Approach to Collecting Rural Health Surveillance Data.

Purpose: In order for communities to make health-related, data-driven decisions concerning resource allocation, needed services, and intervention priorities, they need an accurate picture of the health status of residents. While state and national health surveillance systems exist to help local communities make data-driven health decisions, rural communities face unique challenges including: (1) limited county-level data; (2) underrepresented segments of the population; and (3) a lack of survey items to address local health concerns. The purpose of this study was to take a community-engaged approach to collecting population-based health status data in a rural area in an effort to address some of these unique challenges.

Disseminating Evidence-Based Physical Education Practices in Rural Schools: The San Luis Valley Physical Education Academy.

Background: To address childhood obesity, strategies are needed to maximize physical activity during the school day. The San Luis Valley Physical Education Academy was a public health intervention designed to increase the quality of physical education and quantity of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) during physical education class.

Methods: Elementary school physical education teachers from 17 schools participated in the intervention.

A Community-Engaged Approach to Translating Research into Practice: A Physical Education Story.

Background: The National Institutes of Health's Clinical and Translational Sciences Award program emphasizes the need to speed up the process of putting evidence-based practices into place. One strategy they promote is community engagement; however, few studies describe a process for meaningfully engaging communities in the translation process.

Objective: This article describes steps taken by a university- community partnership to create a plan for implementing evidence-based physical education (PE) practices in rural schools.

Little association between wellness policies and school-reported nutrition practices.

Background: The Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004 mandated written school wellness policies. Little evidence exists to evaluate the impact of such policies. This study assessed the quality (comprehensiveness of topics addressed and strength of wording) of wellness policies and the agreement between written district-level policies and school-reported nutrition policies and practices in 48 low-income Michigan school districts participating in the School Nutrition Advances Kids study.

Local Wellness Policy 5 years later: is it making a difference for students in low-income, rural Colorado elementary schools?

Introduction: The federally mandated Local Wellness Policy (LWP) was intended to promote student health in schools. This study assesses the 5-year effects of the LWP on the health practices of rural elementary schools in Colorado.

Methods: One year before and 5 years after the LWP mandate, a survey was administered to a random sample of principals, physical education (PE) teachers, and food-service managers in 45 rural, low-income elementary schools in Colorado.

Adapted intervention mapping: a strategic planning process for increasing physical activity and healthy eating opportunities in schools via environment and policy change.

Background: School environment and policy changes have increased healthy eating and physical activity; however, there has been modest success in translating research findings to practice. The School Environment Project tested whether an adapted version of Intervention Mapping (AIM) resulted in school change.

Methods: Using a pair randomized design, 10 rural elementary schools were assigned to AIM or the School Health Index (SHI).

Fear of injury with physical activity is greater in adults with diabetes than in adults without diabetes.

Objective: Physical activity is a cornerstone of treatment for diabetes, yet people with diabetes perform less moderate and vigorous physical activity (MVPA) than people without diabetes. In contrast, whether differences in walking activity exist has been understudied. Diabetes-specific barriers to physical activity are one possible explanation for lower MVPA in diabetes.

Early effects of the federally mandated Local Wellness Policy on school nutrition environments appear modest in Colorado's rural, low-income elementary schools.

To increase opportunities for healthy eating and physical activity, US school districts participating in the National School Lunch Program were required to create a Local Wellness Policy (LWP) by June 2006. The What's Working project described the initial influence of this mandate on nutrition environments and policies. In 2005 and 2007 (before and after the mandate went into effect), a survey about school features related to nutrition and physical activity was sent to a random sample of 45 low-income, rural elementary foodservice managers and principals.

An adapted version of Intervention Mapping (AIM) is a tool for conducting community-based participatory research.

The field of public health is increasingly using community-based participatory research (CBPR) to address complex health problems such as childhood obesity. Despite the growing momentum and funding base for doing CBPR, little is known about how to undertake intervention planning and implementation in a community-academic partnership. An adapted version of Intervention Mapping (AIM) was created as a tool for university and elementary school partners to create school-level environment and policy changes aimed at increasing student physical activity and healthy eating.

Early impact of the federally mandated Local Wellness Policy on physical activity in rural, low-income elementary schools in Colorado.

The What's Working project described the initial impact of the United States' federally mandated Local Wellness Policy in rural, low-income elementary schools located in Colorado. Before and after the Local Wellness Policy mandate went into effect, a survey about school features related to nutrition and physical activity was sent to a random sample of 45 rural elementary schools (i.e.

Adapting and implementing a long-term nutrition and physical activity curriculum to a rural, low-income, biethnic community.

This study adapted an urban-based school nutrition program for delivery in a rural community. Specific aims were to adapt the curriculum; expand it to include physical activity; determine effectiveness on students' attitudes, knowledge, and self-efficacy; and assess teachers' impressions. Three cohorts were established: 173 students taught by a resource teacher, 170 students taught by classroom teachers, and 187 students who did not receive the curriculum.