Active Living by Design's Contributions to the Movement

Reflections on the first nine years of a program to create environments more conducive to routine physical activity and health.

The authors, three members of Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Active Living by Design’s (ALbD) first national advisory committee, reflect on the first nine years of the RWJF national program. They note some of the successes, challenges, and opportunities in the national movement for healthy people in healthy places.

Some of the contributions made by ALbD:

  • Lead the framing of active living (and healthy eating) as an alternative to medical approaches to combat obesity and other chronic health conditions.
  • Embedded a policy, systems, and environment change operating system into place-based investments.
  • Engaged leaders in collaborative problem-solving and innovation.
  • Served as the “birthplace” for the National Convergence Partnership, which has helped guide community investments and health and wellness-related policies.

They also raise three concerns about the nature of the public health establishment in the United States as it affects active living. First is that public health’s focus on evidence-based science cannot capture the valuable qualitative connection between the design of communities and the health of people. Second, while acknowledging that policy change is needed to create active living environments, public health shuns “lobbying” for such change. Third, the insularity of the public health establishment creates barriers to forging ongoing collaborations with nonprofit activists.

American Journal of Preventive Medicine Presents the Evaluation of RWJF's Active Living by Design Program

  1. 1 Lessons from a Mixed-Methods Approach to Evaluating Active Living by Design
  2. 2 Capturing Community Change
  3. 3 Identifying the Role of Community Partnerships in Creating Change to Support Active Living
  4. 4 Assessment for Active Living
  5. 5 Evaluation of Physical Projects and Policies from the Active Living by Design Partnerships
  6. 6 Programs and Promotions: Approaches by 25 Active Living by Design Partnerships
  7. 7 Active Living by Design: Sustainability Strategies
  8. 8 Concept Mapping: Priority Community Strategies to Create Changes to Support Active Living
  9. 9 Evaluation of Active Living by Design
  10. 10 Evaluation Results from an Active Living Intervention in Somerville, Massachusetts
  11. 11 Bike, Walk, and Wheel
  12. 12 A Walking School Bus Program
  13. 13 Creating a Moment for Active Living via a Media Campaign
  14. 14 Isanti County Active Living
  15. 15 Using a Bicycle-Pedestrian Count to Assess Active Living in Downtown Wilkes-Barre
  16. 16 Active Living by Design's Contributions to the Movement
  17. 17 Healthy People and the Design Sciences
  18. 18 Active Living by Design and It's Evaluation
  19. 19 A Mixed-Methods Evaluation of School-Based Active Living Programs

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