Built Environment Implementation Strategies to Promote Physical Activity: Expert Consensus for Local Implementation of Physical Activity Policy, Systems, and Environment (ECLIPPSE).

Context: Despite evidence supporting the role of the built environment in promoting physical activity, there is limited guidance on how to implement recommended built environment changes at the local level.

Objectives: The objective of this project was to develop a compilation of implementation strategies that hold promise for aiding communities in implementing built environment changes that support active transportation and leisure-time physical activity, titled "Expert Consensus for Local Implementation of Physical Activity Policy, Systems, and Environment (ECLIPPSE)."

Design: A modified Delphi Technique using 3 web-based survey rounds was conducted from 2024 to 2025.

A Flexible Framework for Urgent Public Health Climate Action.

Climate change poses profound threats to human safety, health, and well-being. Public health agencies, especially state, territorial, local, and Tribal health departments, can play an essential role in climate change adaptation and mitigation. Public health climate action can protect health, promote health equity, and increase climate change resilience.

Potential for Increasing Physical Activity through an e-Bike Pilot Program to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions.

Active transportation such as walking, bicycling, scootering, or using a wheelchair has direct physical and mental health benefits. Electric bicycles (e-bikes) have great potential as a form of active transportation. The Massachusetts Clean Energy Center partnered with the Massachusetts Bicycle Coalition (MassBike) to develop and pilot test a program to provide free pedal assist e-bikes with implementation support for income-eligible residents in Worcester, MA as a strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change.

Development of a multi-component intervention to promote participation of Black and Latinx individuals in biomedical research.

Introduction: Barriers to research participation by racial and ethnic minority group members are multi-factorial, stem from historical social injustices and occur at participant, research team, and research process levels. The informed consent procedure is a key component of the research process and represents an opportunity to address these barriers. This manuscript describes the development of the Strengthening Translational Research in Diverse Enrollment (STRIDE) intervention, which aims to improve research participation by individuals from underrepresented groups.

Healthy Eating and Physical Activity Policy, Systems, and Environmental Strategies: A Content Analysis of Community Health Improvement Plans.

Policy, systems, and environmental (PSE) approaches can sustainably improve healthy eating (HE) and physical activity (PA) but are challenging to implement. Community health improvement plans (CHIPs) represent a strategic opportunity to advance PSEs but have not been adequately researched. The objective of this study was to describe types of HE and PA strategies included in CHIPs and assess strategies designed to facilitate successful PSE-change using an established framework that identifies six key activities to catalyze change.

A REDCap-based model for electronic consent (eConsent): Moving toward a more personalized consent.

Introduction: The updated common rule, for human subjects research, requires that consents "begin with a 'concise and focused' presentation of the key information that will most likely help someone make a decision about whether to participate in a study" (Menikoff, Kaneshiro, Pritchard. . 2017; (7): 613-615.

Healthy Eating Policy Strategies in Community Health Improvement Plans: A Cross-Sectional Survey of US Local Health Departments.

Context: Policies (eg, regulations, taxes, and zoning ordinances) can increase opportunities for healthy eating. Community Health Improvement Plans (CHIP) may foster collaboration and local health department (LHD) engagement in policy decision making to improve local food environments. Limited research describes what policies supportive of healthy food environments are included in CHIPs nationally and relationships between LHD characteristics and participation in plans including such policies.

Perceptions of the Built Environment and Support for Policies That Promote Physical Activity.

Background: To assess how perceptions of the community built environment influence support for community policies that promote physical activity (PA).

Methods: A national cross-sectional survey assessed perceptions of the local built environment and support of community policies, including school and workplace policies, promoting PA. A random digit-dialed telephone survey was conducted in US counties selected on Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System data for high or low prevalence of obesity and inactivity.

Stepping Up Active Transportation in Community Health Improvement Plans: Findings From a National Probability Survey of Local Health Departments.

Background: Local health departments (LHDs) are increasingly involved in Community Health Improvement Plans (CHIPs), a collaborative planning process that represents an opportunity for prioritizing physical activity. We determined the proportion of LHDs reporting active transportation strategies in CHIPs and associations between LHD characteristics and such strategies.

Methods: A national probability survey of US LHDs (<500,000 residents; 30.

Developing Core Capabilities for Local Health Departments to Engage in Land Use and Transportation Decision Making for Active Transportation.

Objective: To develop a core set of capabilities and tasks for local health departments (LHDs) to engage in land use and transportation policy processes that promote active transportation.

Design: We conducted a 3-phase modified Delphi study from 2015 to 2017.

Setting: We recruited a multidisciplinary national expert panel for key informant interviews by telephone and completion of a 2-step online validation process.

Qualitative Exploration of Cross-Sector Perspectives on the Contributions of Local Health Departments in Land-Use and Transportation Policy.

Introduction: Transportation and land-use policies can affect the physical activity of populations. Local health departments (LHDs) are encouraged to participate in built-environment policy processes, which are outside their traditional expertise. Cross-sector collaborations are needed, yet stakeholders' perceptions of LHD involvement are not well understood.

Driven to Support: Individual- and County-Level Factors Associated With Public Support for Active Transportation Policies.

Purpose: To assess predictors of stated support for policies promoting physically active transportation.

Design: Cross-sectional.

Setting: US counties selected on county-level physical activity and obesity health status.

Multilevel Analysis of Municipal Officials' Participation in Land Use Policies Supportive of Active Living: City and Individual Factors.

Purpose: To investigate individual- and city-level factors associated with municipal officials' participation in a local land use policy that supports active living.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Setting: Eighty-three cities in eight states.

Priorities of Municipal Policy Makers in Relation to Physical Activity and the Built Environment: A Latent Class Analysis.

Objective: To examine policy makers' public policy priorities related to physical activity and the built environment, identify classes of policy makers based on priorities using latent class analysis, and assess factors associated with class membership.

Design: Cross-sectional survey data from municipal officials in 94 cities and towns across 6 US states were analyzed.

Participants: Participants (N = 423) were elected or appointed municipal officials spanning public health, planning, transportation/public works, community and economic development, parks and recreation, and city management.

Municipal Officials' Participation in Built Environment Policy Development in the United States.

Purpose: This study examined municipal officials' participation in built environment policy initiatives focused on land use design, transportation, and parks and recreation.

Design: Web-based cross-sectional survey.

Setting: Eighty-three municipalities with 50,000 or more residents in eight states.

Understanding Municipal Officials' Involvement in Transportation Policies Supportive of Walking and Bicycling.

Context: Local transportation policies can impact the built environment and physical activity. Municipal officials play a critical role in transportation policy and planning decisions, yet little is known about what influences their involvement.

Objective: To describe municipal officials' involvement in transportation policies that were supportive of walking and bicycling and to examine individual- and job-related predictors of involvement in transportation policies among municipal officials.

Support for physical activity policies and perceptions of work and neighborhood environments: variance by BMI and activity status at the county and individual levels.

Purpose: To examine support for local policies encouraging physical activity and perceived neighborhood environment characteristics by physical activity and weight status of respondents across U.S. counties.

Municipal officials' perceived barriers to consideration of physical activity in community design decision making.

Context: Built environment-focused interventions and policies are recommended as sustainable approaches for promoting physical activity. Physical activity has not traditionally been considered in land use and transportation decision making. Effective collaboration with non-public health partners requires knowledge of their perceived barriers to such consideration.

Policy, systems, and environmental approaches for obesity prevention: a framework to inform local and state action.

The public health literature has not fully explored the complexities of the policy process as they relate to public health practice and obesity prevention. We conducted a review of the literature across the policy science and public health fields, distilled key theories of policy making, and developed a framework to inform policy, systems, and environmental change efforts on obesity prevention. Beginning with a conceptual description, we focus on understanding three domains of the policy process: the problem domain, the policy domain, and the political domain.

Active living collaboratives in the United States: understanding characteristics, activities, and achievement of environmental and policy change.

Introduction: Changing the built environment to promote active lifestyles requires collaboration among diverse sectors. Multisectoral collaborative groups in the United States promote active lifestyles through environmental and policy changes. The objective of this study was to examine the characteristics of these collaborative groups and the extent to which they have achieved change.

Implementing state tobacco treatment services: lessons from the Massachusetts experience.

This case study was conducted between 2000 and 2003 to examine the implementation of community based tobacco treatment programs funded by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health Tobacco Control Program (MTCP). Four dimensions of implementation, drawn from several models of program evaluation are explored: (a) quantity of services, (b) quality of services, (c) implementation/use of systems, and (d) sustainability. The quantity of services delivered was high, reflecting MTCP's focus on increasing availability of services, particularly in underserved populations.

Predictors of smoking cessation in pregnancy and maintenance postpartum in low-income women.

Objective: To describe factors associated with smoking status of low-income women during pregnancy and postpartum.

Methods: Data from a randomized clinical trial were used to conduct separate analyses on 327 women who smoked at baseline (time at enrollment) and for whom smoking status was available at delivery, and on 109 women who reported not smoking at delivery (quit spontaneously or after study enrollment) and for whom smoking status was available at 6-months postpartum. Salivary cotinine was used to assess the accuracy of self-reported smoking status for the sample as a whole.

Recommendations for care related to follow-up of abnormal cancer screening tests: accuracy of patient report.

When using patient self-report of processes of care as part of measuring quality performance, validity and reliability are important considerations. In this study, the congruence of patient report of recommendations of screening follow-up care was compared with record audit data. Survey data were collected from a random sample of patients with abnormal breast (n = 230) or cervical (n = 219) cancer screening tests from four health centers.

Coronary heart disease multiple risk factor reduction. Providers' perspectives.

Background: Although primary care physicians understand the importance of preventive services for patients with multiple risk factors (MRF) for coronary heart disease, physician intervention is limited. This study investigated (1) physicians' views of challenges faced in managing patients with MRF; (2) the counseling and management methods they utilize; and (3) possible strategies to enhance MRF intervention in the primary care setting.

Methods: Two focus groups were conducted with primary care physicians from varying settings to gain insight into these issues noted above.