Abstract
Program sustainability in community and healthcare settings is critical to realizing the translation of research into practice.
The purpose of this study is to describe the implementation and assessment of an intervention to increase organizational maintenance
of evidence-based physical activity programs and the factors that impede or facilitate sustainability. All organizations implemented
a sustainability action plan that included identifying factors related to sustainability, examining resources available, identifying
program modifications to enhance sustainability, and long-term action planning. A mixed methods approach was used. Organizational
(n = 12 sites) ability to demonstrate program effectiveness, align priorities with the organizational mission, and integrate
the program within the existing infrastructure were strengths related to sustainability. Sites were more optimistic about
program sustainability when they had less reliance on internal financial, but more reliance on internal human resources to
run the program post-funding. The study resulted in a number of tools that can help community organizations plan for sustainability
of physical activity programs.
The purpose of this study is to describe the implementation and assessment of an intervention to increase organizational maintenance
of evidence-based physical activity programs and the factors that impede or facilitate sustainability. All organizations implemented
a sustainability action plan that included identifying factors related to sustainability, examining resources available, identifying
program modifications to enhance sustainability, and long-term action planning. A mixed methods approach was used. Organizational
(n = 12 sites) ability to demonstrate program effectiveness, align priorities with the organizational mission, and integrate
the program within the existing infrastructure were strengths related to sustainability. Sites were more optimistic about
program sustainability when they had less reliance on internal financial, but more reliance on internal human resources to
run the program post-funding. The study resulted in a number of tools that can help community organizations plan for sustainability
of physical activity programs.
- Content Type Journal Article
- Pages 1-8
- DOI 10.1007/s13142-011-0039-x
- Authors
- Paul A Estabrooks, Department of Human Nutrition, Foods, and Exercise, Translational Obesity Research Program, Virginia Tech, Roanoke, VA, USA
- Renae L Smith-Ray, Institute for Health Research and Policy, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
- David A Dzewaltowski, Department of Kinesiology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, USA
- Diane Dowdy, School of Rural Public Health, Texas A&M University System, College Station, TX, USA
- Diana Lattimore, Exercise and Sport Science, University of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
- Carol Rheaume, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA
- Marcia G Ory, School of Rural Public Health, Texas A&M University System, College Station, TX, USA
- Terry Bazzarre, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Princeton, NJ, USA
- Sarah F Griffin, Public Health Sciences, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, USA
- Sara Wilcox, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA
- Journal Translational Behavioral Medicine
- Online ISSN 1613-9860
- Print ISSN 1869-6716