Strategies

Limit increases in the number and concentration of alcohol outlets by area or by population through licensing or zoning regulations

Match disadvantaged or at-risk youth with volunteer mentors in school or community settings

Provide educational and behavioral interventions that support patients’ ability to actively manage their condition(s) in everyday life

Support multi-component educational interventions for college students that address nutrition, physical activity, and healthy weight management; often with environmental modifications

Use specialized courts to offer criminal offenders with drug dependency problems an alternative to adjudication or incarceration

Provide patients with prescriptions for exercise plans, often accompanied by progress checks at office visits, counseling, activity logs, and exercise testing

Offer payments, credits toward health insurance premiums, or other financial rewards to encourage employees to lose weight, eat more healthily, quit smoking, engage in physical activity, etc.

Provide outreach and support to assist those whose employers do not offer affordable coverage, who are self-employed, or who are unemployed

Increase patients’ health-related knowledge via efforts to simplify health education materials, improve patient-provider communication, and increase overall literacy

Regulate mental health insurance to increase access to mental health services, including treatment for substance use disorders