Wellness Leadership

Federal Resources, Curricula and Toolkits

- Community Health Assessment aNd Group Evaluation (CHANGE) includes the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) tools and resources for developing a community action plan for sustainable, community-based improvements that address chronic disease and related risk factors.

- Eat Healthy Be Active Community Workshops are based on the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Each workshop in this HHS-produced toolkit includes a lesson plan, learning objectives, talking points, hands-on activities, and handouts for facilitators to use in guiding participants to make healthy changes to their eating and physical activity habits.

- Health Equity Research Toolkit for State Practitioners Addressing Obesity Disparities is CDC’s toolkit aimed at increasing the capacity of state health departments and their partners to work with communities to implement effective responses to obesity in populations that are facing health disparities.

- The HHS Action Plan to Reduce Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities outlines goals and actions HHS will take to reduce health disparities among racial and ethnic minorities.

- The Let’s Move Faith and Communities webpage has resources, ideas and guidance for community leaders addressing the health and wellness of their communities. This is the first place to visit to get involved in Let’s Move!

- The Let’s Move Faith and Communities toolkit offers resources and guidance on how faith-based and neighborhood organizations can initiate, expand, and coordinate activities that make their communities places of wellness for kids and families.

- The Let's Move Faith and Communities wellness leadership flyer shares a three-step process for community leaders to follow in making their communities healthier: Lead, Organize and Take Action!

- The MyPlate Community Toolkit provides guidance for wellness leaders on how to make their own lifestyles healthier. Armed with these tools, leaders will be better equipped to bring change to their communities.

- The National Institutes of Health’s We Can! curriculum for parents, caregivers, and communities gives children ages 8 to 13 tools to achieve and maintain a healthy weight.

- The National Prevention Strategy is the National Prevention, Health Promotion, and Public Health Council’s strategy on improving health and wellness in the United States.

Community Resources, Curricula and Tools*

- The Adventist HealthCare Health Ministry Program offers resources for developing a health ministry in your congregation.

- The Church Health Reader is a ministry of the Church Health Center in Memphis, TN, and includes a storehouse of articles and essays related to faith-based wellness, including Beginning a Health Ministry.

- The Community Tool Box is a global resource of free information on essential skills for building health communities. It offers practical guidance in creating change and supporting community health and development work and is provided by the Work Group for Community Health and Development at the University of Kansas.

- The Congregations for Public Health (CPH) out of the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s Minority Health and Health Disparities Research Center works with churches on programs that aim to eliminate health disparities and achieve optimal health, education, social and economic well-being.

- The County Health Rankings & Roadmaps is a program sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation that provides tools and resources for building roadmaps to help make communities healthier places to live, learn, work, and play. The tool includes a wide range of data on health determinates (such as education, income, access to health insurance and quality case, environmental and social dynamics) and provides a roadmap to help make your community healthier.

- The Congregational Health Index (CHI) from Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon and Oregon’s Public Health Institute offer an assessment survey tool and guide for communities seeking opportunities for creating and sustaining healthier environments.

- Coordinated Approach to Child Health (CATCH) is an evidence-based, coordinated school health program designed to promote physical activity, healthy food choices and the prevention of tobacco use in children.

- The Measure of America’s Human Development Index tool provides life expectancy and other key data about specific geographical regions by entering a zip code.

- The National Baptist Convention’s Faith-Based Advocacy to End Childhood Obesity: Using Evidence-Based Information highlights the important and particular role faith-based organizations play in reducing childhood obesity.

- The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation provides abundant research, publications and tools for building healthy communities and informing and inspiring leaders.

- THRIVE: Community Tool for Health and Resilience in Vulnerable Environments helps communities understand and prioritize the factors that influence the health outcomes of their vulnerable populations.

- The United Church of Christ’s Healthy Connections is a faith-based training program to establish or enhance congregational health ministries.

- The United Methodist Church, in collaboration with the United Methodist Council on Relief, created the UMC Health Ministry Network to enable and inform faith community nurses and health advocates in their congregations. From their newsletter to their Strategic Council, UMC Health Ministry Network is providing resources and innovative practices to support nurses and professionals, and improve the level of care in their communities.

Communities on the Move!*

- National denominations that have established community health policies and national health ministries include the United Church of Christ's Faithfully HEALing, Adventists InStep for Life, The National Baptist Convention, and the African Methodist Episcopal Church Health Ministry (AMEC).

- CHOICES for Kids offers programs aimed at fighting childhood obesity and promoting weight management and lifestyle changes through nutrition education, peer socialization, physical activity and community involvement.

- The DISCOVER: CATCH Early Childhood program at the Jewish Community Centers of North America teaches healthy nutrition and activity habits to preschoolers.

- Faith in Place gives diverse community members in Chicago the tools to integrate the practices of their faith traditions into community-based action toward a just and sustainable future.

- The Latino Leadership Council is dedicated to advancing the wellness and leadership capacity of Latino populations in Northern California.

- Movin’ Mania! is Bon Secours Virginia Health System’s community-wide effort to reduce childhood obesity and encourage children to form healthy habits for life.

- The National Baptist Convention’s Health Ambassador Challenge seeks to establish 10,000 Health Ambassadors.  These are individuals trained to lead healthy living programs at their local churches, as part of the H.O.P.E. initiative of the Congress of Christian Education.

- Raising Up Healthy Women & Girls is a wellness initiative led by Women of the ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America) that focuses on supporting women in their efforts to be physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually healthy and balanced.

*The materials compiled and posted here are offered for your information and reference only and are not intended to represent the best or only approach to any particular issue nor an endorsement of any one practice. Copyright in posted materials belongs to the respective owners, whether or not a copyright notice appears on the screen displaying the materials.