ESPHL PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS

ARKANSAS

JULY 2014

Team Members:

Stephanie Williams* Joyce Elliot Nell Smith

Jared Cleveland Bradley Planey

Elizabeth Pitman Katheryn Hargis

* Team Leader

For additional information, contact:

Stephanie Williams Director of Public Health Programs

Arkansas Department of Health Phone: 501-280-4055 Email: stephanie.williams@arkansas.gov

States’ policies shape where we live, learn, work, and play, and impact the public’s health. While there is evidence

for what works to improve populations’ health outcomes, many states lack robust partnerships capable of

mobilizing stakeholders, re-examining existing legal models, and innovating through statue and regulation. The

Excellence in State Public Health Law (ESPHL) program sought to strengthen the relationships among health

policy decision-makers in and among selected states and to increase the ability of these states to understand how

policy could improve the public’s health. States determined their own priorities, and ESPHL did not pre-

determine states’ outcomes.

The Arkansas Excellence in State Public Health Law (ESPHL)* team was unified by the alarming statistics on obesity, teen pregnancies, tobacco use, binge drinking and other health challenges among the state’s adolescents. The 2011 Youth Risk Behavior Survey identified several areas in which Arkansas was lagging far behind not only its neighbors but the entire country. Arkansas has seen an overall decrease in risky health behaviors in adolescents but still consistently ranks above the national average in many negative health behaviors and their resulting poor health outcomes in adolescents. These behaviors include tobacco use, binge drinking, prescription drug abuse, sex before age 13, depression and suicide, high school dropout rate, and obesity. Our research identified sports participation as one means to influence youth risk behaviors and improve the health status of adolescents in Arkansas. The original project design was to address these risk behaviors and health outcomes by addressing equity in female vs. male high school sports participation rates. Our specific goals were:

to form a clearinghouse of athletic participation data accessible to all interested parties (Governmental and non-governmental agencies, communities, parents);

to develop a system that encourages and supports collaborative efforts with other state agencies and partners to promote more successful program/policy adoption;

to improve health outcomes of all youth by encouraging individual, regional and statewide efforts aimed at increasing athletic participation through organized competitive sports, intramural sports, after school activities.

Over the course of the year, the work of the Arkansas ESPHL team was supplemented by the guidance and feedback received from additional partners and stakeholders including the Arkansas Activities Association, Arkansas Department of Education, Arkansas Coalition for Obesity Prevention and numerous program experts within the Arkansas Department of Health. A series of meetings with Community Health Nutrition Specialists (CHNS) and Community Health Promotion Specialists (CHPS) proved valuable in developing a clear and concise plan of action. Based in fifteen educational cooperatives around the state and working directly with the state’s schools, these seasoned professionals with substantial on-the-ground experience suggested that we reframe the strategy of promoting sports participation to focus on the promotion of physical activity in general. They also pointed out that several schools had been successful in increasing physical activity opportunities for their students by establishing joint use agreements with local municipalities. Though different from our original intent, this collaboration helped us re-define our goals.

The team also collaborated with the Arkansas Department of Education and the Arkansas Coalition for Obesity Prevention to develop a video, “Get in the Game” that illustrates the story of why shared use agreements are critical in helping to increase physical activity levels among students and communities around schools. The local community stories featured in this video provide schools and communities interested in making similar changes with encouragement as

* ESPHL, a program of the Aspen Institute Justice & Society Program, was made possible by a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

well as direction on the process for seeking financial and technical assistance to establish joint use agreements in their areas. By showcasing how three distinctly different communities: Springdale (urban), Bryant (suburban) and Hamburg (rural) have been able to produce significant community impact by making small changes in the way local assets are utilized, it was clear these stories would be inspiring and likely spark interest in other communities. Development of the project using a multi-agency team approach allowed each team member to learn more about the other agencies, each agency’s understanding of public health, and the interplay between health status and the social determinants of health. The activities conducted also serve as a testament to the benefits of collaboration.

“When we would sit down with the folks working at

the local level—they understood the kids,

understood the parents' concerns, and understood

the school administrators and their perspective.

Interestingly, we got a lot of feedback about the

importance of mayors and ensuring they can see

the vision for how this fits into having a livable

community, how it's good for the kids, it's good for

families, and it's good for businesses that see

families. And they're some of our best community

champions. So I think if we hadn't taken the time to

listen, we would have missed some of those

community stakeholders.”

- Stephanie Williams, Deputy Director for

Public Health Programs, Arkansas

Department of Health