| |
 HEALTH
AND BEHAVIOUR
Increasing physical activity among Americans
and promoting health behavior change as part of routine medical
care.
Seeking to build a stronger knowledge and policy base from
which to promote active living, the Foundation authorized a four-year,
$12.5-million project to support research on environmental and policy
approaches that can help introduce physical activity back into our
daily lives. The project includes a strong communications component
to help publicize key findings with target audiences.
The Foundation also provided support to
The National Center for Bicycling and Walking (NCBW) to establish
a clearinghouse and support center on creating physically active
communities. In addition, the NCBW will work in partnership with
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to provide technical
assistance and training in targeted states.
The Team is also working on a blueprint
for increasing the activity levels of Americans age 50 and older,
for whom the rates and health risks of a sedentary lifestyle are
highest. In the future, it also plans to look at opportunities to
help integrate behavior change techniques into primary care.
POPULATION-BASED
HEALTH SCIENCES
Promoting leadership and tool development
for population-wide approaches to health improvement.
Building on our eight-year investment in All Kids Count,
an effort to increase immunization rates among children through
computer-based registries, the Foundation provided The Task Force
for Child Survival and Development with a three-year, $5-million
grant to create a technical resource center to help develop more
integrated preventive health information systems. One focus of the
effort will be the development and testing of confidentiality standards.
The Foundation also awarded nearly $12 million
to 21 states under Turning Point: Collaborating for a New Century
in Public Health. The program is designed to improve public
health leadership and performance. The funding will support participation
in the implementation phase of the program, including participation
in five national collaboratives carrying out systems change efforts
that cross boundaries.
In the future, the Team will be working
to improve leadership and the nation’s understanding of population-based
health, including efforts to help communities measure and improve
population health.
TOBACCO
Decreasing the number of people who use
tobacco.
In August 2000, the Foundation co-hosted the 11th World Conference
on Tobacco OR Health with the American Cancer Society®
and the American Medical Association. More than 5,000 people from
around the world attended the Chicago event, including RWJF grantees
and staff. The focus of the Conference was to strengthen national,
regional, and global leadership networks dedicated to tobacco use
prevention and control.
Also in 2000, states continued to decide
how to spend their portions of the $246-billion settlement from
U.S. tobacco companies for the health costs of tobacco-related diseases.
The settlement created an opportunity for states to rethink and
step up their tobacco cessation and control policies. To help maximize
the impact of these efforts, the Foundation reauthorized and substantially
expanded its SmokeLess States program. The new three-year, $52-million
authorization of the program, now called SmokeLess States®:
National Tobacco Policy Initiative, makes grants available to
coalitions in all 50 states and the District of Columbia to seek
policy changes that deter tobacco use and decrease its social acceptability.
Our Smoke-Free Families program,
which seeks to develop and evaluate new interventions to help women
quit smoking before, during, and after pregnancy, stepped up its
efforts by funding a new $1.2-million national dissemination office
at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
The Tobacco Team plans to continue its focus
on helping addicted users quit and will seek to stimulate stronger
anti-tobacco policies.
© Copyright 2002 The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Click to
read our Web Policies
|
