Translating the Public Health Action Plan
Into Action

Guidance for Task Groups
Task 3: Taking Action

Taking Action

Action: Commission a group to address priority policies for heart disease and stroke prevention.

Task: Create an inventory and prioritize policies to the Action Plan framework in one or more areas specific to heart disease and stroke prevention.

Outcome, April 2005: Present identified policies and proposed priorities for implementation and support through state and local action, communications, and other means.

Rationale

To implement the Action Plan by stimulating and supporting policy development in cardiovascular health promotion and cardiovascular disease prevention at national, state, and local levels. Alignment of identified policy options with the Action Plan framework is encouraged to track the addressed potential areas of policy development. Although a comprehensive policy profile is the ultimate goal, a selective approach to one or more distinct policy areas may be more practical for the immediate action.

What Success Will Look Like

A valuable first product will be a listing of policy initiatives derived from current experience. Priorities should be assigned (by category, if not individually) to the listed policies as to their potential for immediate implementation and impact. Existing policies across a variety of sectors potentially relevant to heart disease and stroke prevention (e.g., health care, education, agriculture, transportation, community planning, etc.) will strengthen the initial report. Strategies for adopting the prioritized policies at the national, state, and local levels should also be addressed. This phase will provide for a more comprehensive policy assessment, establish a clearinghouse to maintain current information on new policy initiatives, and develop research and demonstration activities to evaluate the policy change impact.

This Task in the Larger Picture

This specific task is shown in the attached summary. The many Action Plan linkages are illustrated by the following:

• Effective communication: Establishing a list of pertinent policies will help create and reinforce consistent messages across audience sectors.
   
• Strategic leadership, partnerships, and organization: A prioritized policy can help make leadership, partnerships, and organizations at all levels more focused on implementing the most promising policies and programs for heart disease and stroke prevention.
   
• Strengthening capacity: Future infrastructure within public health must include the necessary competencies of policy development and implementation to adequately address cardiovascular disease and related chronic conditions. This task will help establish the competencies importance in public health agencies and their partnerships. In addition, new policies will entail new action areas for which capacity must continually be developed.
   
• Evaluating impact: To fully measure the impact of policies and programs, a comprehensive inventory of policies is needed.  This will identify gaps in data collection, management, and reporting.
   
• Advancing knowledge: Policy–related questions; such as, critical investigations, will help evolve the cardiovascular health research agenda.
   
• Engaging in regional and global partnerships: An inventory of effective or newly proposed cardiovascular health policies within the United States could be used and adapted for regional and global efforts to prevent heart disease and stroke.

Approach to the Task

While the approach should be determined by the leaders and members of the task group, the following suggested 10–step list may be helpful:

1. Define the activity scope to be pursued through April 2005, within the overall statement of the task, above.
2. Prepare a preliminary outline of the anticipated report.
3. Identify the main source materials that will support the group's work.
4. Take account of related work by others, whether completed or in progress.
5. Consider whether expertise or consultation beyond the task group will be needed, whether within the National Forum or beyond, and arrange to obtain the needed input.
6. Divide responsibilities for work components among all members of the group.
7. Use support staff to assist in logistics and communications.
8. Maintain frequent contact and monitor progress, including a cumulative record of meetings and accomplishments.
9. Draft the task group report.
10. Present the report to the 3rd National Forum, April 2005.

CDC Support Staff Contact Information

National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and
Health Promotion
Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention
4770 Buford Highway NE, MS K-47
Atlanta, GA 30341
Tele: 770–488–5504
Fax: 770–488–8151
Email: ccdinfo@cdc.gov
Web site: http://www.cdc.gov/hdsp/

The Context of the Concrete Tasks
Task 3: Taking Action

Action: Commission a group to address priority policies for heart disease and stroke prevention.

Concrete Task: Create an inventory and prioritize policies, from the Action Plan framework, in one or more areas specific to heart disease and stroke prevention.

Expected Outcome: Present identified policies and proposed priorities for implementing and supporting the plan through state and local action, communications, and other means.

The above task is 1 of 8 tasks for the National Forum to implement during the current year. This task emerged from 1 of 3 priority action statements in taking action designated by Working Group 4 in January 2004. These action statements are

• Adopt an agreed–upon array of priority policies for action by National Forum members.
   
• Establish a web–based clearinghouse of information (policies, experiences, materials, etc.) on demonstration projects and model programs, especially comprehensive population–based efforts using the CVH Council and CDC Web sites.
   
• Identify and pursue funding for one or more major demonstration projects in which multiple program components are coordinated and integrated for maximum impact.

Task 3 and its related priority action steps were developed from the following recommendation in the full Action Plan:

"Initiate policy development in CVH promotion and CVD prevention at national, state, and local levels to assure effective public health action against heart disease and stroke. In addition, evaluate policies in non-health sectors (e.g., education, agriculture, transportation, community planning) for their potential impact on health, especially with respect to CVD."

The background of this task can be found in A Public Health Action Plan to Prevent Heart Disease and Stroke in Section 2. A Comprehensive Public Health Strategy, Section 3. Recommendations, and Section 4. Implementation.

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Date last reviewed: 05/12/2006
Content source: Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion