National recognition for innovation and achievement

2016 Year in Review – part four in a series of four

Jump IN’s mission is to promote policies and practices that create healthy environments where families and children have real opportunities to make healthy choices and engage in healthy behaviors. Research shows that if healthy nutrition and physical activity policies can be implemented in the places where children and families spend most of their time, their health will likely improve.

 In Part One of this Year in Review series we described what we did in 2016 to increase the number of healthy choices that family members have in their workplaces, schools, child care settings, and personal homes. In Part Two we described the launch of our first community demonstration project in Greater Lawrence/Far Eastside, a nationally recognized effort to employ numerous strategies across multiple sectors to increase health in a concentrated geographic region. In Part Three we looked closely at our efforts in 2016 to affect the broader community impacting central Indiana families.  

This post highlights our growing reputation as a nationally recognized best practice initiative addressing childhood obesity as a complex public health issue.

Recognition and Awards

The National Academy of Sciences (formerly IOM) Roundtable on Obesity Solutions recognized Jump IN as a best practice model, featuring Jump IN CEO Ron Gifford in a panel presentation in Washington, D.C., on the topic “The Role of Business in Multisector Obesity Solutions.” (April 2016)

Nestle and the CEO Innovation Collaborative of the National Academy of Sciences Roundtable invited Gifford to participate as a panelist at a Cleveland forum entitled “Together We Can Unite for Healthier Kids.” Other panelists included Dr. Jim Marks, Executive Vice President of Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; Howell Wechsler, CEO of Alliance for a Healthier Generation; Bill Purcell, chair of the NAS Roundtable; and representatives from the CDC, U.S. Chamber of Commerce and others. (June 2016)

Julie Burns, Jump IN Senior VP Program Operations, participated as one of 40 leading policy and issue experts, advocates, and community and national partners invited to strategize, build skills, and collaborate on early childhood education at the Voices for Healthy Kids Early Learning and Education Policy Summit, a joint initiative of the American Heart Association and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.  (June 2016)

Photo courtesy of Bipartisan Policy Center

The Bipartisan Policy Center featured Gifford as a panelist in a discussion of the business community’s role in improving health.  Other participants included Jim Huffman, Senior Vice President of Global Benefits at Bank of America Corporation; Paul Coppola, Senior Director of Care Management Strategy, Innovation and Design at Aetna; Ron Goetzel, PhD, Senior Scientist and Director of the Institute for Health and Productivity Studies at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health; and moderator Janet Marchibroada, Director of Health Innovation at the Bipartisan Policy Center. Panelists shared employer strategies that promote physical activity within their organizations and communities. (December 2016)

Cooking Light magazine named Jump IN a “shining star of health” in the article “United States of Healthy” in July 2016. This publication reaches 1.6 million print subscribers, brings 6.7 million unique visitors to its website, and receives 40 million site views per month. 

Jump IN and the Indiana State Department of Health were selected to receive a CDC Public Health Associate, a highly competitive 2-year fellowship (August 2016)

The Healthiest Cities and Counties Challenge—a partnership between the Aetna Foundation, the American Public Health Association and the National Association of Counties, administered by CEOs for Cities—chose Greater Lawrence/Far Eastside as one of 50 communities nationwide to participate in a two-year challenge to demonstrate positive health impact. The Challenge provided an initial seed grant of $10,000 to our community demonstration project, with a chance to win up to $250,000 in additional prizes and technical assistance. If you missed it, read more about this award in Part Two of our series.

Jump IN’s ground-breaking continuing medical education workshop, Managing Childhood Obesity in Primary Care Settings (highlighted in Part Three of this series), has been nominated for the Innovation Award for Healthcare Provider Training co-sponsored by the American College of Sports Medicine, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, and the Bipartisan Policy Center. The award recognizes health professional training programs that “are ahead of the curve in providing nutrition, physical activity and obesity counseling education to their students.”

Local Opportunities

City of Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett proclaimed February 29, 2016 (Leap Day) “Make the Leap for Healthy Kids Day.”  

In spring 2016, the Girls Scouts of Central Indiana released the Jump IN patch in collaboration with Purdue Extension. The Jump IN patch program teaches girls ways to improve their personal health, family health, and community health. It begins with a commitment to implement healthy eating and physical activity at troop events.

In October 2016 WFYI, Side Effects Public Media, and the Indianapolis Public Libraryhosted “A Conversation on Public Health: A Healthier Place to Live.”  Jump IN CEO Ron Gifford and Dr. Virginia Caine, Marion County Public Health Director and co-chair of Jump IN’s Leadership Council, were among the community leaders and public health experts who discussed making Indianapolis a fairer, healthier place to live.