Integration Highlight: Partnership Pays Off

The Baby Your Baby (BYB) Program began work with the Utah Indian Health Advisory Board (UIHAB) beginning in 1997, when it was noted that the American Indian/Alaskan Native population had low rates of adequate prenatal care. Several ideas were presented to the board for consideration with the concept of adapting the Baby Your Baby Health Keepsake for the American Indian/Alaskan native population.

Although the BYB Program and the UIHAB were both enthusiastic about the project, progress was slow going. Several new covers were created and a few changes were made to some of the pages. Then in 2009, the Diabetes Prevention and Control Program (DPCP) entered into the partnership, making the vision a reality. The DPCP asked tribal representatives to review the current Keepsake and provide feedback and insight as to the changes they wised to see. BYB applied the feedback to the Keepsake, making as many changes as was feasible. Over 13,700 books were printed and will be distributed through tribal health representatives.

Integration Highlight: Getting to the Butt of the Problem

The Utah Cancer Control the Tobacco Prevention and Control Program integrated to get the word out about evidence-based social marketing campaigns. They co-presented at the Utah Public Health Association Conference in May. Both programs shared success stories and lessons learned in a presentation titled, “Successfully Reaching Your Target Audience: Getting to the Butt of the Problem."

Whitney Johnson discussed the UCCP's colorectal cancer screening program. They recruited the daughter of well-known Utah outdoorsman Doug Miller to tell the tale of how colon cancer is preventable. Everybody over the age of 50 should be screened for colon cancer. She shared focus group data that helped them identify barriers to colorectal screenings, then utilized that data to fine tune their advertisements resulting in a steady increase in colorectal screenings above the national average.
David Neville and Sarah Mangone exposed the tactics and products of tobacco companies that market to adults and especially young children with emerging products. They shared information about the Tobacco Prevention and Control Program's counter-campaign that integrated grassroots efforts, public relations, and advocacy to successfully make Utahns aware of these new products, angry with tobacco companies for their underhanded tactics, and ready to act to protect their kids and our community.

Learning together about integration! BHP BOOK GROUP! 8/30/10, 12:00 pm, Room 128

Join us August 30th for our next book group discussion on an article related to Program Integration. That said, I hope you also find broader applicability of this article:

Leading Change: Why Transformation Efforts Fail
John P. Kotter

Please join us for an in-person discussion of this article on:
August 30, 2010
12:00 – 1:00 pm (feel free to bring your lunch)
CHB, Room 128

Consider these initial questions for discussion:
1. How do the concepts in this article apply to your individual work?
2. How do the concepts in this article apply to the concept of Program Integration?
3. Regarding Program Integration, what errors have we made? Where are we doing well?
4. How do we avoid making the noted errors in the future?

Feel free to add your own discussion questions for consideration using the “comments” feature.