Page 88 - MMP-N-NJ CCN 21st Century School Nurse Leadership Book

4. Communicate the vision.

• Use every avenue/vehicle possible to communicate: PTA meetings, Robocalls, flyers,
student poster contest, school nurse and district website, school newsletters, professional
organizations, local hospitals, local healthcare providers.

5. Empower others to act on the vision.

Remove or alter systems or structures undermining the vision.
• Will I need any policy changes? For example, obtaining written consent to participate in
the community café?
• Collaborate with school and community partners.
• Enlist the help of parent supporters/champions.
• Create interest/buy-in that supports community healthy lifestyles and nutrition.

6. Plan for and create short-term wins.

Define and set a date for visible performance improvement. Recognize and reward those
involved in the improvements.
• Set a date early in the initiative that creates excitement. Example: Parents in the first
community café reported that they had difficulty finding programs that support children
and obtaining a healthy weight. A local hospital offers a family-based program and initial
discussions with the hospital have indicated the possibility of having programs in the local
community. Other factors discussed also included decreased walkability in the surrounding
areas of the school.
• As part of the community café model – information, ideas, etc. are used to form a dialogue
about barriers and facilitators to obesity prevention. The community cafes continue with
all ideas collected and then used to guide next steps. For example, next steps may be to
prioritize the ideas and then with community partners begin to formulate action steps and/
or interventions.

7. Consolidate improvements and produce more change.

Use the increased credibility (yes! this project is going to work and the guiding coalition is
behind the initiative) to further change systems, structures, etc.
• Evaluate and plan for changes/improvements for the following/year.
• Address policy changes as needed.
• Do you need additional support resources (i.e. Staff) to further understand the problem?
• If resources are needed, formulate a plan to demonstrate the cost and benefits for the
additional supports.

8. Institutionalize new approaches.

Articulate connections between new behaviors and success of the program. Share the
successes and your results.
• For example: List compiled results of the community cafes. Identify potential
interventions and how intervention(s) were chosen and plans for future implementation.

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