Location:
Problem
Addressed: Public
Health Infrastructure
Healthy
People 2010 Objective: 23
Turning Point is a national
program in various states that aims to increase collaboration at the community level
to improve quality of life. The Oklahoma Turning Point Council was created to
pool together the efforts of
An example of a specific
program the Oklahoma Turning Point Council has developed is the Oklahoma
Certified Healthy Business Program, which encourages business to implement
employee health programs. The program has large participation from rural
businesses, especially since the great majority of businesses in
THE MODEL
Blueprint: The Oklahoma Turning Point Council is made up of over
50 different organizations and has been existence since 1998. General membership
is open to community organizations, statewide organizations, and members at
large. Members include representatives of political, economic, health,
education, religious, communication, and recreational sectors as well as social
welfare and non-profit, voluntary and other community groups. The Council’s
executive committee includes members from several county health departments as
well as hospitals and other state organizations. There are four standing
subcommittees: data, media, public/private financing, and human resource
development. Staffing for the Council is provided by the Community Development
Service within the Oklahoma State Department of Health.
Funding for the Oklahoma
Turning Point Council originally was from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
and the Kellogg Foundation. Support now comes through a variety of sources,
including state and federal funds, which allows change to occur at both the
state and the community level. The Council has developed an implementation
strategy for the Health Improvement Plan that serves as a framework on how to
proceed with community collaboration. The plan includes several objectives
toward increasing community collaborations such as the development of marketing
tools and the provision of resources and information to local partnerships that
will assist them in assessment, evaluation, and grant writing.
The Council has developed
resolutions that promote state and local policies and encourages collaboration
among organizations to deal with specific conditions and health-related issues.
This has included resolutions that stress the importance of physical activity
and nutrition by suggesting various solutions such as the community design of
pedestrian and bicycle-friendly transportation systems as well as nutrition
programs in schools with the collaboration of the State Board of Health.
Resolutions have also been developed in arthritis prevention and education for
adults to improve quality of life as well as to reduce health care costs.
Additional resolutions include tobacco use and the reduction of exposure to
secondhand smoke through the promotion of smoke-free policies in most public
places and workplaces and the promotion of child advocacy in health care. In
addition to resolutions, the Council has also developed an implementation
strategy for health improvement, with goals and objectives in the areas
mentioned previously.
Beyond the local level, the
Council encourages collaboration among the state legislature; the Governor’s
office; the State Board of Health; the State Board of Education; the State
Department of Health; the state’s Association of Health, Physical Education,
Recreation and Dance; Council on Physical Fitness and Sports; and state
professional associations.
The Oklahoma Certified
Healthy Business Program is an initiative of the Oklahoma Turning Point
Council. The Oklahoma Certified Healthy Business Program targets the workforce
of small, medium, and large businesses in
The Certified Healthy
Business Program is supported primarily through the volunteer efforts of the
Oklahoma Turning Point Council partners. There are two paid professional staff
from the Oklahoma State Department of Health who assist with the operations of
the Certified Healthy Business Program. Marketing is primarily done through
electronic means (website and e-mail), through mass mailings (coordinated by
the State Chamber of Commerce), and through business newsletters. Mailing and
printing costs are donated, and staff costs necessary for maintaining the
program are provided by the Oklahoma State Department of Health. The program
has support from key groups within
The Certified Healthy Business Program provides
recognition as a certified healthy business to those organizations that meet
specific criteria. Awards are made based on the size of the business and number
of criteria (wellness/health promotion activities) that the business is
involved in. The certificates are signed by the Commissioner of Health, the
chair of the Oklahoma Turning Point Council, and the director of the
Making a
Difference: The Oklahoma Certified Healthy Business Program is measuring its success
by tracking the number of businesses that apply and become certified each year.
The Program also maintains a database of wellness/health promotion activities
offered by
One positive result in its
first year of existence is that Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Oklahoma has agreed
to form a consortium of health insurance companies in
Beginnings:
However, improvement in
health status indicators has not been fully realized, and the need for
community input is recognized. The 1999 State of the State’s Health report
concluded that the Board of Health and the Oklahoma State Department of Health
cannot improve current health conditions alone. The report recognized that
interventions will have to include local communities, neighborhoods, and
families in the development and implementation processes. As a result, the
system is reorganizing, and local and state health department staff are making
additional effort to include community-specific needs, conditions, and concerns
into decision making while preserving the core functions and responsibilities
of the state in protecting public health. Such collaboration efforts are
facilitated through the Oklahoma Turning Point Council. The Oklahoma State
Department of Health understood that in order to improve the state’s health
status, it had to engage in collaborative efforts with community and business
partners. Therefore, the State Health Department took the lead in securing the
initial grant funding for Turning Point, and it continues to support Turning
Point through state and federal dollars.
The Oklahoma Certified
Healthy Business Program began September 2003 and was fully implemented in December
2003. It is currently ongoing. The original stakeholders in the program remain,
and none have been added or dropped. The stakeholders consist of the
Challenges
and Solutions: The program is looking to attract new stakeholders
and to increase the number of businesses that are interested in certification.
Incentives for those who become certified are also being sought, such as
reduced health coverage premiums for certified businesses.
Brandie O’Connor and Neil Hann
Oklahoma State Department of Health
Phone: (405) 271-6127
Fax: (405) 271-1225
Julie Knutson, Executive Director
Phone: (405) 232-5828