Jump IN featured at Institute of Medicine workshop in nation’s capital

In mid-April I had the privilege of presenting Jump IN to a national audience at the Institute of Medicine’s Roundtable on Obesity Solutions. The theme of the workshop, held at the National Academies of Sciences in Washington, DC, was “The Role of Business in Multi-Sector Obesity Solutions: Working Together for Positive Change.” Jump IN was highlighted as a model for how business and civic leaders in a community can come together to seek comprehensive solutions to public health crises like childhood obesity. 

Elevating Jump IN’s profile among national experts was certainly one benefit of the day, but identifying opportunities to connect our work with other innovative programs around the country was equally important. Here are just a few of the opportunities we’re now pursuing as a result of those connections:

• Talking with the Clinton Foundation’s Health Matters Initiative about partnering on an employee wellness program for small and midsize employers that will be piloted in six cities around the country. 
• Working with UpLift Solutions, a nonprofit in Philadelphia promoting innovative solutions to food access issues in low-income communities, to assess the viability of those solutions for Indianapolis neighborhoods. 
• Meeting with the Bipartisan Policy Center to connect its health professionals training program with the continuing medical education program that our Clinician Engagement Task Force is developing for this fall. 
• Discussing ways to collaborate with the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce in Tennessee, on health assessments and interventions to address obesity and related chronic health conditions, such as diabetes, heart disease, and hypertension. 

I’m confident that additional opportunities will arise from our participation in the workshop. The Roundtable will publish a summary of the workshop later this year, and we will link that to our website and share the information when it becomes available. 

Special thanks to Dorothy Hoffman, Director, Global Public Policy for Eli Lilly, who originally introduced Jump IN to the workshop organizers, and to Jim Whitehead, president of the American College of Sports Medicine, a member of our Leadership Council, and a member of the Roundtable on Obesity Solutions, who also recommended that Jump IN be part of the workshop. 

Read more in Dorothy Hoffman’s blog post about the Roundtable.