Strategies

What Works for Health includes evidence-informed strategies to create communities where everyone can thrive.

Active recess

Establish a break from the school day, typically before lunch, that involves planned, inclusive, actively supervised games or activities; also called semi-structured, or structured recess

Evidence Rating:

Scientifically Supported

Activity programs for older adults

Offer group educational, social, creative, musical, or physical activities that promote social interactions, regular attendance, and community involvement among older adults

Evidence Rating:

Scientifically Supported

Administrative license suspension/revocation laws

Enable law enforcement to immediately take the license of a driver who fails or refuses to take a chemical test for alcohol

Evidence Rating:

Scientifically Supported

Adult drug courts

Use specialized courts to offer adults who are charged with an offense and have substance use disorders an alternative to adjudication or incarceration

Evidence Rating:

Scientifically Supported

Alcohol access restrictions in public places

Restrict alcohol availability and use at sporting events, other public events (e.g., concerts and street fairs) and in public spaces such as parks and beaches

Evidence Rating:

Expert Opinion

Alcohol advertising restrictions

Restrict the content and placement of alcohol advertisements on broadcasts, outdoor displays, internet marketing, etc. via state laws, local ordinances, industry self-regulation, or a combination of efforts

Evidence Rating:

Some Evidence

Alcohol brief interventions

Provide information and increase motivation to change or prevent problematic alcohol consumption in a short session; also called alcohol screening & brief intervention

Evidence Rating:

Scientifically Supported

Alcohol days of sale restrictions

Limit when alcohol can be sold in bars, restaurants, and/or liquor and convenience stores; limits may apply to days or times of sale

Evidence Rating:

Some Evidence

Alcohol outlet density restrictions

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

Evidence Rating:

Scientifically Supported

Alcohol taxes

Increase the price of alcohol via taxes levied for beer, wine, and liquor purchases

Evidence Rating:

Scientifically Supported

Bicycle & pedestrian master plans

Establish a framework to increase walking and biking trails and improve connectivity of non-auto paths and trails in a particular area

Evidence Rating:

Some Evidence

Blood alcohol concentration laws

Set legal limits for drivers’ blood alcohol concentrations (BACs)

Evidence Rating:

Scientifically Supported

Breastfeeding promotion programs

Provide education, information, counseling, and support for breastfeeding to parents throughout pre- and post-natal care

Evidence Rating:

Scientifically Supported

Breath testing checkpoints

Implement checkpoints where law enforcement officers can stop drivers suspected of drinking and driving and assess their level of alcohol impairment

Evidence Rating:

Scientifically Supported

Campus alcohol bans

Restrict alcohol consumption anywhere on a college or university campus or only in specific areas (e.g., residence halls)

Evidence Rating:

Insufficient Evidence

Child-focused advertising restrictions for unhealthy foods & beverages

Restrict child-focused advertising for unhealthy foods and beverages via bans on unhealthy food and drink ads during children’s TV programs, product placement in children’s movies, etc.

Evidence Rating:

Some Evidence

College-based obesity prevention educational interventions

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

Evidence Rating:

Some Evidence

Community fitness programs

Offer exercise classes (e.g., aerobic dance, yoga, Tai Chi, cycling, etc.) and fitness program support in community, senior, fitness, and community wellness centers

Evidence Rating:

Scientifically Supported

Community gardens

Establish and support land that is gardened or cultivated by community members via community land trusts, gardening education, zoning regulation changes, or service provision (e.g., water or waste disposal)

Evidence Rating:

Some Evidence

Community kitchens for food processing

Establish shared kitchen spaces that support licensed, commercial food processing and connect specialty food processors, farmers, and others who produce value-added goods

Evidence Rating:

Expert Opinion

Community kitchens for nutrition education

Use existing kitchen spaces for community members to share knowledge, resources, and labor to prepare, cook, and consume food, often with nutrition education provided for participants experiencing food insecurity

Evidence Rating:

Insufficient Evidence

Community supported agriculture (CSA)

Establish partnerships between farmers and consumers in which consumers purchase a share of a farm’s products in advance

Evidence Rating:

Expert Opinion

Community weight loss challenges

Support temporary programs that work to energize participants to lose weight via prizes, often combined with education, weight status and food intake tracking, regular check-ins, and group support

Evidence Rating:

Expert Opinion

Community-based social support for physical activity

Build, strengthen, and maintain social networks that provide supportive relationships for behavior change through walking groups or other community-based interventions

Evidence Rating:

Scientifically Supported

Community-wide physical activity campaigns

Engage a variety of partners in a highly visible, multi-component effort to increase physical activity, often with efforts to address cardiovascular disease risk factors

Evidence Rating:

Some Evidence

Competitive pricing for healthy foods

Assign higher costs to non-nutritious foods than nutritious foods via incentives, subsidies, or price discounts for healthy foods and beverages or disincentives or price increases for unhealthy choices

Evidence Rating:

Scientifically Supported

Complete Streets & streetscape design initiatives

Enhance streetscapes with greater sidewalk coverage and walkway connectivity, street crossing safety features, traffic calming measures, and other design elements

Evidence Rating:

Scientifically Supported

Designated driver promotion programs

Encourage use of designated drivers via population-based mass media campaigns, incentive programs based in drinking establishments, and other efforts

Evidence Rating:

Insufficient Evidence

Dram shop liability laws

Hold alcohol retailers legally responsible for injuries or damage caused by providing alcohol to intoxicated or underage customers; also called commercial host liability laws

Evidence Rating:

Scientifically Supported

Drink special restrictions

Limit or ban alcohol establishments from serving alcohol at a reduced price as part of promotions; also called happy hour restrictions

Evidence Rating:

Some Evidence

Electronic Benefit Transfer payment at farmers markets

Enable farmers markets to accept EBT, the electronic payment system of debit cards used to issue and redeem Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits

Evidence Rating:

Expert Opinion

Enhanced enforcement of laws prohibiting alcohol sales to minors

Initiate or increase retailer compliance checks, shoulder tap operations, parking lot observation outside alcohol establishments for laws that prohibit alcohol sales to minors

Evidence Rating:

Scientifically Supported

Exercise prescriptions

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

Evidence Rating:

Scientifically Supported

Extracurricular activities for physical activity

Provide chances for kids and adolescents to be active and play sports at various skill levels via structured or unstructured after and before school athletic activities

Evidence Rating:

Some Evidence

Family treatment drug courts

Use specialized courts to work with parents involved in the child welfare system who may lose custody of their children due to substance use; also called family treatment courts, family dependency treatment courts, or family drug courts

Evidence Rating:

Scientifically Supported

Family-based physical activity interventions

Increase family members’ support for physical activity, often via educational sessions on health, goal-setting, problem-solving, or family behavioral management

Evidence Rating:

Some Evidence

Farm to school programs

Incorporate locally grown foods into school meals and snacks, often with visits from food producers, cooking classes, nutrition and waste reduction efforts, and school gardens

Evidence Rating:

Some Evidence

Farmers markets

Support multiple vendor markets where producers sell goods such as fresh fruit and vegetables, meat, dairy items, and prepared foods directly to consumers

Evidence Rating:

Some Evidence

Fentanyl test strip distribution programs

Provide free fentanyl test strips to detect the presence of fentanyl in different kinds of drugs and drug forms

Evidence Rating:

Some Evidence

Financial rewards for employee healthy behavior

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.

Evidence Rating:

Some Evidence

Food buying clubs & co-ops

Offer opportunities for group purchase and distribution of selected grocery items, generally at a reduced price

Evidence Rating:

Expert Opinion

Food hubs

Support businesses or organizations that aggregate, distribute, and market local and regional food products (e.g., fresh fruits and vegetables, meat, dairy, grains, and prepared items)

Evidence Rating:

Expert Opinion

Fruit & vegetable gleaning initiatives

Gather food left in fields after a primary harvest, food in fields where harvesting is not profitable, or excess produce from orchards, packing houses, urban agriculture sites, etc.

Evidence Rating:

Expert Opinion

Fruit & vegetable incentive programs

Offer participants with low incomes matching funds to purchase healthy foods, especially fresh fruits and vegetables; often called bonus dollars, market bucks, produce coupons, or nutrition incentives

Evidence Rating:

Scientifically Supported

Fruit & vegetable taste testing

Offer samples of fresh fruits and vegetables in cafeterias, nutrition classes, school gardens, or workplace well-being meetings, often as part of a multi-faceted nutrition intervention

Evidence Rating:

Some Evidence

Good Samaritan drug overdose laws

Provide immunity from arrest, charges, or prosecution for drug possession or paraphernalia when individuals experiencing or witnessing drug overdose summon emergency services

Evidence Rating:

Expert Opinion

Green space & parks

Increase green space through new parks or open spaces, renovation or enhancement of under-used recreation areas, rehabilitation of vacant lots, brownfields, etc.

Evidence Rating:

Some Evidence

Healthy food in convenience stores

Encourage convenience stores, corner stores, or gas station markets to carry fresh produce and other healthier food options

Evidence Rating:

Some Evidence

Healthy food initiatives in food pantries

Combine hunger relief efforts with nutrition information and healthy eating opportunities, often with on-site cooking demonstrations, recipe tastings, produce display stands, etc.

Evidence Rating:

Some Evidence

Healthy foods at catered events

Provide more fresh fruits and vegetables, smaller portions, low fat, and reduced sodium or reduced sugar food options and other healthy foods at catered events

Evidence Rating:

Expert Opinion

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