. We’re looking to state, tribal, local, and territorial health departments; community health coalitions; and others who have used the Community Guide in your organization (and community) to tell us how you’re implementing its evidence-based findings and recommendations to improve health and prevent disease. By sharing your experience, you have a chance to win a variety of prizes. The top three entrants will be awarded a scholarship (up to $1,000) to be used towards attendance at a national public health conference in 2011. The top 15 entrants will win an “I’m Your Community Guide” prize pack, and all entrants will receive 15% off their next purchase of public health training materials from PHF’s Online Store.
We’re beginning to hear about innovative ways that organizations are using the Community Guide to improve public health. Here are some examples:
Planning
“We’re using the Community Guide to plan the New Hampshire Planners Association Annual Conference – the Community Guide provides a great opportunity to bridge community planning and public health. Its land use recommendations that promote physical activity will provide the framework for this year’s conference.” – Foundation for Healthy Communities
Resource Optimization
“After implementing the Community Guide, staff no longer spend their time and resources on programs that have not traditionally worked to make a significant impact on health issues. As we look at grant opportunities and other avenues to purchase program materials, we use the Community Guide to research best practices to justify resource allocation.” – Knox County Health Department
Funding
“The Community Guide resulted in two funding grants for our community – we used the recommendations as support for earning $20,000 for our obesity programs and $105,000 for our maternal and child health programs. These programs are ongoing, but we have already have stabilized BMI rates in elementary schools over the past three years.” – Western Maryland Health System
Cost Savings
“We used the Community Guide to reduce readmissions for inpatient hospital visits among the homeless and other at-risk populations in our city. We decreased arrest rates of the homeless and the associated law enforcement costs by over $300,000. We also reduced emergency room visits among this population by 61.5%, which amounted to an $83,000 reduction in healthcare costs that would have been picked up by the state.” – Central Virginia Health Planning Agency
Have you used the Community Guide in these or other ways? If so, we encourage you to submit your story for contest consideration via e-mail to
[email protected] through
May 6, 2011 June 10, 2011. Submissions may be made as a text document of no more than two pages or as a completed
contest entry form. For more information, see the
“I’m Your Community Guide” Contest Submission Guidelines.
We look forward to hearing your story, and sharing your success with others to build healthier communities!
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