Investments in Communities: CDC’s Role in Activating Local Change

CDC’s Healthy Communities Program helps funded communities prevent chronic diseases by building community capacity—commitment, resources, and skills—to develop and implement environmental change strategies that will

• Reduce health risk factors, especially tobacco use and exposure, insufficient physical activity, and poor nutrition.
• Support attaining health equity.

Confronting the national epidemic of chronic diseases requires bringing community resources together and changing the places, organizations, and systems that touch people’s lives every day, including schools, work sites, and community and health care settings. For example, communities need healthy and affordable food options in local grocery stores and restaurants, safe places where people can be physically active, effective and accessible preventive health care, and transportation strategies that support walking and biking. Key decisions related to these and other environmental changes rest in the hands of local leaders, who may need to be educated on the importance and effectiveness of changes that promote and support good community health.

CDC’s Healthy Communities Program provides communities with funding, tools, strategies, and training for creating environmental changes to improve people’s health. Working with key partners, CDC guides the ever-growing network of communities to implement population-based strategies that reduce the prevalence of chronic disease and achieve health equity. Funding opportunities can be found on www.grants.gov.

Currently, 331 communities and 52 state and territorial health departments have been selected to participate in CDC’s Healthy Communities Program, resulting in significant health-related improvements at the local level. Learn more about the Healthy Communities Program:

• Strategic Alliance for Health (SAH) communities
• Action Communities for Health, Innovation, and EnVironmental changE (ACHIEVE)
• Pioneering Healthier Communities (PHC)
• Steps communities

In addition, CDC’s Healthy Communities Program assists in funding and training state and territorial health departments through a 5-year National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion cooperative agreement to promote healthy lifestyles and prevent chronic diseases. The health departments, in turn, provide technical assistance and training on developing and implementing environmental changes to communities within their jurisdictions. Learn more about the U.S. State and Territorial Health Departments Collaborative for Chronic Diseases.