Focus on health

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) encourages healthier living for all Americans. Following our contributions to the Foundation’s successful tobacco cessation efforts, RWJF turned to Pyramid for help in determining its next primary strategic focus.

An examination of the behavioral determinants of health, Phase I of the National Dialogue on Health project consisted of interviews with experts from a wide range of fields, three day-long expert meetings to brainstorm solutions, eight focus groups with diverse populations around the country, research of health literature, reviews of four national health-related campaigns and research on three major social change movements. The result: a strategic focus on children’s healthy eating and physical activity in schools.

For Phase II of the dialogue, we interviewed experts in these fields and brought seven of them together for a day-long brainstorm. Pyramid also conducted research on current trends, media coverage, public policy and programs and conducted a national public opinion survey. This research yielded three strategic models and 11 strategic options for improving children’s eating patterns and increasing their physical activity.

In Phase III, Pyramid refined the Phase II models and options and produced one new model, resulting in four strategic plans—Healthy Schools for Healthy Kids, the School Lunch Campaign, Healthy Teachers Make the Difference and the Children’s Health Movement. The strategies formed the basis for developing new priorities for research, programs and funding.