Forming a Coalition
Elsewhere on this site, you'll find lots of terrific ideas for helping your Kansas community become a place where the citizens are physically active and eat a healthy diet. But let's be realistic: Helping people move toward change isn't always easy. And although one person CAN make a difference, there's strength in numbers! Check out these important documents below that explain the process of forming coalitions to make your community a better place to live. They are all written with people like you in mind, people who want to work with their friends and neighbors to improve everyone's quality of life.
- Developing Effective Coalitions: An Eight Step Guide (Adobe Acrobat). Using two fictitious coalitions to illustrate points, this 32–page guide is ideal for private citizens and elected/appointed officials. This eight-step, comprehensive handbook provides truly practical information about how to form effective coalitions, how they operate, what they can accomplish, and some pitfalls to avoid. Check out the advantages of coalitions on page 7!
- Larry Cohen, MSW
Nancy Baer, MSW
Pam Satterwhite, MA - Prevention Institute
- Larry Cohen, MSW
- Government Leadership in Preventing Childhood Obesity – Fact Sheet (Adobe Acrobat). September 2004. From the Institute of Medicine, this fact sheet provides concise information about how different levels of government—including local government—can respond to the crisis of childhood obesity. Recommendations for federal action are especially interesting.
- Toolbox for Community Action: Promotion of Healthy Eating & Active Living in Children (Adobe Acrobat). This Canadian resource for private citizens includes mapping tools for community environments and programs. You could even say it's a blueprint for establishing a community-wide plan to promote physical activity and healthy eating. Surveys for parents, youth and community programs are included in the appendices.
- Health Canada, Population Health Fund and the Calgary Health Region, Action for Health, June, 2004
- Calgary Health Region Childhood Obesity Initiatives
- Prevention and Treatment of Overweight and Obesity: Toward a Roadmap for Advocacy and Action (Adobe Acrobat). This Permanente Journal article that reports on a 2003 roundtable of national experts is a good overview for any community health advocate. You will learn about the policies and actions needed to prevent overweight and obesity at any age as well as how to establish priorities for making systemic changes in your community.
- Brian Raymond, MPH; Cindy Moon, MA
- The Permanente Journal