The CHL Network Multistate Project (W3194) supports and extends the CHL network, training, intervention activities and research programs initiated through CHL and the CHL Center of Excellence.
This multistate project supports and extends the CHL network, training, intervention activities and research programs initiated through CHL, which has demonstrated feasibility of the approach. The land grant institutions held stakeholder meetings that resulted in the CHL application. Land grant colleges in the Pacific have been an organizing mechanism for CHL. This multistate project will continue to be an important mechanism to maintain a stable partnership and coordinated activity. Without this tool the group will need to rely on grant opportunities that are now smaller and will likely result in smaller less coordinated subsets of the partners working together. This project has the potential to model multistates as platforms for coordinated health extension coalitions to facilitate and support broad sector partnership for health.
The project is currently focused on healthy child snack recipes, and analyzing data from the EFNEP program across the region on (adult) dietary intake (Healthy Eating Index in particular), food security and food behavior.
Objectives
- By the end of Year 5, assess the long-term effectiveness of CHL-initiated training and intervention activities through two coordinated multistate research studies.
- By the end of Year 5, co-develop an integrated culturally responsive model for intervention design, workforce development, and capacity building that draw upon influential drivers identified through CHL and CHLN.
- By the end of Year 5, broaden and strengthen the CHL Network’s applied research infrastructure by (a) expanding activities to include additional critical developmental stages in childhood, and (b) increasing the Pacific regional food composition database to include at least 5 additional local and traditional foods.
Methods
- To assess the long-term effectiveness of CHL-initiated training and intervention activities the CHLN team will utilize CHL training program evaluation data, CHL intervention process data and conduct surveys. The two research studies will examine: 1) Training program concepts and elements; and 2) Implemented intervention activities and processes to identify key sustained impacts and influential factors. The findings will provide evidence-based strategies for sustaining desired health outcomes. Two grant proposals aimed at scaling the most effective elements of the CHL model will be co-developed.
- To co-develop an integrated culturally responsive model for intervention design, workforce development, and capacity building, the CHLN team will synthesize influential drivers from existing CHL data. The integrated model will focus on designing an integrated intervention and training approach that incorporates local customs, protocols and values that can be used to adapt evidence-based interventions making them more acceptable and applicable to the population, along with a comprehensive “Trainer-of-Trainers” package that blends technical skills with cultural competence and traditional practices to empower communities and build local leadership across the network.
- To broaden and strengthen CHLN’s applied research, the CHLN team will identify a critical developmental stage (i.e., 5 to 8 year olds), health outcomes, and a culturally appropriate research protocol specific to this stage, and formally integrating this expansion into the CHL Network’s research agenda and data systems. To strengthen the database, focus on collaborating to prioritize at least five local and traditional foods, conducting comprehensive laboratory nutrient analysis, and integrating this new data into the Pacific regional food composition database.