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The last year was marked by growth, collaboration and inspiration for the Healthy Iowans Partnership. Together, the Healthy Iowans Partnership accomplished a lot of impressive things throughout the last year. We have a lot to celebrate!
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In January, we published the preliminary 2023-2027 State Health Improvement Plan (SHIP). This document outlined a vision for health for Iowa’s future, with a focus on Access to Care: Behavioral Health and Healthy Eating & Active Living. The 2023-2027 SHIP was the result of extensive collaboration and sparked exciting conversations with partners.
It is important to note that this work only represents part of the SHIP. The SHIP includes both the innovative approach of the Healthy Iowans Partnership Workgroups and also the hundreds of health improvement strategies being implemented by organizations throughout the state.
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Partners in Action: Health Improvement Strategies Throughout Iowa
To gain a better understanding of these ongoing health improvement efforts, Iowa HHS’ Healthy Iowans Team created the "Strategies Survey." In the survey, respondents were asked to highlight up to three programs, initiatives or strategies their organization leads now - or has specific plans to lead before 2027. In total, there were over 100 submissions from more than 75 unique organizations.
As a way to enhance the visibility of this work, the Healthy Iowans Team developed a new publication titled Partners in Action: Health Improvement Strategies Throughout Iowa. Our hope is that readers can draw inspiration from the work of others and establish new partnerships based on common goals. This publication also explores connections to Healthy People 2030 and other evidence-based strategies in each priority area.
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In 2023, the Healthy Iowans Partnership Steering Committee developed a charter, laying the foundation for the Healthy Iowans Partnership. The charter highlights the mission, vision, core values and guiding principles of the steering committee and defines the roles and responsibilities of each participating group in the Healthy Iowans Partnership.
The Healthy Iowans Partnership Steering Committee also identified additional partners to engage with and create meaningful impacts to support and advance the SHIP’s priority areas.
The Healthy Iowans Partnership experienced great growth in 2023. We developed two workgroups - one for Access to Care: Behavioral Health and one for Healthy Eating & Active Living. The primary function of the Healthy Iowans Partnership Workgroups is to develop data-driven objectives and strategies for the SHIP. They seek to connect the work being done across the state related to the SHIP’s priority areas in an effort to build connections between community partners. These workgroups include individuals from the Healthy Iowans Partnership Steering Committee, health care systems, academic institutions, private and non-profit organizations, and advocacy groups. Workgroup members were selected by the Healthy Iowans Partnership Steering Committee based on shared priorities, commitment to equity, subject matter expertise and capacity to participate. The Access to Care: Behavioral Health workgroup includes representatives from 10 different organizations across the state. The Healthy Eating & Active Living Workgroup includes 13 different organizations.
This impactful work will continue in 2024 with help from the Healthy Iowans Partnership! In the coming months, we will publish an updated version of the 2023-2027 SHIP. The new document will highlight the same priorities - Access to Care: Behavioral Health and Healthy Eating & Active Living - but will include additional details such as the objectives and strategies identified by the Healthy Iowans Workgroups. We will also be updating the Partners in Action: Health Improvement Strategies Throughout Iowa document. If you would like your organization’s efforts to be included, please fill out the Strategies Survey.
In an effort to continue linking work across the state, the Healthy Iowans Team will keep exploring how our efforts connect with local plans, Iowa HHS programming, other state plans, the work of organizations across the state and Healthy People 2030. As the year progresses, the Healthy Iowans Workgroups will continue collaborating as they work to build out action plans for each priority area. The Healthy Iowans Partnership will also engage additional partners to gain important viewpoints and lived experiences.
These accomplishments would not have been possible without many of you. The Healthy Iowans Team at Iowa HHS is grateful to the Healthy Iowans Partnership Steering Committee, workgroups, and our partners across the state who actively engage in this work. We look forward to advancing our impact in 2024!
The State of State-level Public Health Advocacy
- Hosted by The Network for Public Health Law
- “Attend this webinar to hear about the findings of the recently released report, The State of State-level Public Health Advocacy, which examines specific markers of advocacy capacity and interviews with advocates in 50 states and the District of Columbia.”
- January 18, 2024 from 12:00-1:30pm CST
Improving Health Outcomes Through Preventing Childhood Obesity Virtual Conference
- Hosted by Healthy LifeStars
- “The conference will include experts from across the country presenting their cutting edge research in childhood nutrition, physical activity, and prevention of long term adverse health effects caused by obesity.”
- January 23, 2024 from 9:00am-4:00pm CST
Iowa Food and Farm Day on the Hill
- Hosted by the Iowa Food System Coalition
- “This event is FREE and open to anyone wishing to advocate for policies that encourage increased local food opportunities within Iowa. Members of the Iowa Food System Coalition will prepare packets that contain relevant information about 2024 legislative priorities that help direct meetings with legislators.”
- January 25, 2024 from 9:00am-3:00pm CST
The 2024 Public Health Conference of Iowa
- Hosted by the Iowa Public Health Association
- “The Public Health Conference of Iowa (PHCI) is a must-attend event for all Iowans who work in public health, environmental health, primary care, health promotion, health education, laboratory sciences and more! Conference attendees receive profession-specific knowledge and exposure to other disciplines within public health.”
- March 26, 2024 and March 27, 2024
The Food Policy Fund has announced an upcoming grant opportunity.
- “Our debut grantmaking program is a 2-year pilot in which 10 food policy councils will receive $30,000 in unrestricted funding to support their work in the ways they see as best.”
- Eligible groups are food policy councils in the US working to effect better food policy through civic collaboration. “Food policy councils” are defined as councils, networks, coalitions, or other groups working across boundaries at the tribal, municipal, county, state, or regional level.
- Applications will be available starting January 20, 2024 and will be due March 5, 2024.
FrameWorks has published a new video series on framing tips related to “Aging & Care.”
- “These videos provide quick framing tips for advocates, researchers, practitioners, and other champions in the care community. The videos explore topics ranging from quality care, to supporting the care workforce, to talking about ageism.”
The Wellbeing Project and Georgetown University recently released a new resource hub on intergenerational trauma.
- Learn about trauma-informed approaches to social change through research, stories, resources, events, and more.
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