Neighborhood environments underpin screen time intervention success in children: Evidence from a study of greenspace and community programming across 130 US communities.

The goal of this study was to understand how neighborhood greenspace access may support or hinder the effectiveness of community programs and policies (CPPs) aimed at reducing racial and ethnic inequities in screen time among 4598 US children. We found higher CPP intensity was significantly associated with fewer screen time behaviors in high greenspace neighborhoods, but not neighborhoods with low or moderate greenspace. Moreover, there were significant differences in greenspace access by neighborhood-level race and ethnicity.

Local Health Equity Action Teams (LHEATS) as a Novel and Emerging Practice of the Communities Organizing to Promote Equity (COPE) Project in Kansas.

The Communities Organizing to Promote Equity (COPE) Project was implemented in 20 counties across Kansas to build capacity to address health equity by forming local health equity action teams (LHEATS), hiring and training community health workers, facilitating state-wide learning collaboratives, and tailoring communication strategies. We conducted interviews and focus groups with project stakeholders who identified pragmatic recommendations related to LHEAT formation and leadership, establishing trust, nurturing autonomy, and optimizing impact. Insights can improve future community-based health equity efforts.

Community Organizations, Local Health Equity Action Teams, and a Learning Collaborative to Address COVID-19 Disparities in Urban and Rural Communities.

Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics-Underserved Populations (RADx-UP) Kansas worked with 10 Kansas counties from November 2020 through June 2022 to form local health equity action teams (LHEATs), develop COVID-19 testing strategies, foster communication about COVID-19, and share best practices through a learning collaborative. Participating counties documented 693 distinct COVID-19 testing and 178 communication activities. Although the intervention was not associated with changes in the proportion of positive COVID-19 tests, LHEATs in the learning collaborative implemented new testing strategies and responded to emerging COVID-19 challenges.

Communities organizing to promote equity: engaging local communities in public health responses to health inequities exacerbated by COVID-19-protocol paper.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately impacted rural and under-resourced urban communities in Kansas. The state's response to COVID-19 has relied on a highly decentralized and underfunded public health system, with 100 local health departments in the state, few of which had prior experience engaging local community coalitions in a coordinated response to a public health crisis.

Methods: To improve the capacity for local community-driven responses to COVID-19 and other public health needs, the University of Kansas Medical Center, in partnership with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, will launch Communities Organizing to Promote Equity (COPE) in 20 counties across Kansas.

Community Health Improvement Plans and Physical Activity Implementation Strategies: Findings From a Cross-Sectional Survey of US Local Health Departments.

Objective: Community Health Improvement Plans (CHIPs) are a foundational public health practice conducted by every accredited health department in the United States. Community Health Improvement Plans may impact community-wide physical activity (PA) by implementing large-scale interventions. However, no studies have evaluated whether, or how, CHIP goals focusing on increasing PA are implemented.