Skip directly to search Skip directly to A to Z list Skip directly to navigation Skip directly to page options Skip directly to site content

Strategic Alliance for Health Communities

This program is no longer funded. Learn more about current DCH programs.

Since 2008, CDC’s 14 Strategic Alliance for Health (SAH) communities have been improving community health through sustainable, innovative, and evidence-based community health promotion and chronic disease prevention interventions that lead to policy, systems, and environmental changes. To do this, SAH communities focus on building local capacity to

  • Institute policy, systems, and environmental changes related to promoting physical activity and nutrition and reducing tobacco use and exposure.
  • Improve and increase access to quality health care.
  • Help eliminate racial/ethnic and socioeconomic health disparities.
  • Reduce complications from and incidence of heart disease, diabetes, and obesity.

Each SAH community will focus its efforts on a minimum of two sectors for a 5-year period. Schools are a required sector, and the other(s) will be selected from the community, work site, or health care sectors. Communities will work collaboratively with their key partners (including representatives from education agencies, community and faith-based organizations, businesses, and the health care sector) to develop policy, systems, and environmental change strategies that 1) promote and sustain community-based health promotion and chronic disease prevention programs and 2) help achieve the Healthy People 2010 objectives. SAH communities developed Implementation Guides to mentor other communities in chronic disease prevention. These "how to" guides provide evidence- and practice-based strategies to reduce the burden of chronic diseases. Communities can use these Implementation Guides as a resource to assist in replicating specific policies, systems, or environmental change strategies across multiple sectors and chronic disease risk factors. Each Implementation Guide offers key lessons learned and step-by-step guidance for planning, evaluating, and sustaining policy, systems, and environmental change strategies.

To download an SAH Implementation Guide, click on the funded community.

SAH COMMUNITIES:

State-Coordinated Small Cities/Rural Communities
Alabama
  • Dallas County
    Increasing Access to Locally Grown Fresh Fruits and Vegetables by Revitalizing a Community Farmers Market
  • Perry County
    Establishing Work Site Wellness Committees
  • Sumter County
    Creating Safe and Accessible Walking Paths
New York
  • Albany County
    Movers and Shakers: Physical Activity "Bursts" in the Classroom
  • Broome County
    Patriot Breakfast Program
  • Orange County
    A Guide to Implementing Farm to School in Your District
  • Schenectady County
    Know, Grow, and Eat Your Vegetables: Policy, System, and Environmental Changes to Increase Access to Healthier Foods among the Developmentally Disabled
Large Cities/Urban Communities
Tribes/Tribal Entities
Top