Four years ago, the Statewide Health Improvement Program (SHIP) began granting funds to help communities in Minnesota with the goal of making healthy choices be the easy choices. The strategies employed by the SHIP initiative are sustainable policy, system and environmental (PSE) changes that impact communities, schools, worksites and health care organizations. SHIP aims to reduce the burden of chronic diseases associated with tobacco use and obesity due to physical inactivity and poor nutrition.
Some examples of the work that SHIP accomplishes include integrating more fruit and vegetable options into school lunch menus, passing tobacco-free policies on college campuses and professional worksites, and helping communities to be more walkable and bikeable by planning for more cross-walks and sidewalks. As resources for making health choices are becoming more accessible, we are seeing the health of our communities improve. Some indications of success are showing up the media; Minnesota was ranked the number 1 healthiest state for seniors’ health in the America’s Health Rankings from the 2012 United Health Foundation report.
SHIP is just starting in its third biennium of funding, fondly referred to as SHIP 3.0. While all counties in Minnesota participated in SHIP 1.0, only a select number of communities were funded in the last biennium. With SHIP 3.0, more funds are available and the hope is that SHIP will be more widely implemented throughout our State. The Improve Group has worked with 19 counties to evaluate the effectiveness of these healthy initiatives in their communities. Our work has helped provide reports that present progress and show to the State how their investment is helping the people of Minnesota.
What we have learned
Providing evaluation to SHIP communities has taught us a lot about the importance of this effort. We are getting a firsthand look at the power of communities making policy changes. What is valuable about SHIP is that the different communities have the ability to decide how funds will be used in order to make the biggest impact and fit the specific needs of their population. We have learned how the decisions carried out by the communities have resulted in behavior changes. Through the evaluation, we are able to see what changes have the biggest impact on healthy behaviors, and which changes have a smaller impact. We see how every community is different and how each community must adjust its efforts to match those differences.
Why SHIP is so important
SHIP is important because chronic diseases due to tobacco use and obesity are huge issues in our state. Though our state is generally viewed as being one of the healthiest in the nation, Minnesota has some of the worst health disparities in communities of color and for people in poverty. SHIP targets its efforts to reach populations with greatest health disparities. At the national level, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention recognizes that changes need to be made at the PSE level in order to become sustainable, and Minnesota is viewed as a leader for work on this issue.
What SHIP means to us
In my work as a Project Director, working with communities to evaluate their SHIP initiatives has been some of the most rewarding work of my career. We have used many creative methods to demonstrate change in different communities. We have also applied this knowledge to help us assist other clients with similar challenges. We have been able to learn what evaluation methods have not worked as well as anticipated and were able to plan and implement changes to improve upon those efforts. Because we have worked with SHIP since its inception, we have built many wonderful relationships and learned more with each year. The people that we work with are very passionate about making Minnesota a healthier state and are eager to demonstrate the impact of the work that they do. It has been a wonderful experience learning from so many different communities.
If your community is looking to improve the health of its citizens, there is still time to apply for funding from SHIP. Communities looking to apply are welcome to reach out to us for ideas and as an evaluation partner at info@theimprovegroup.com.