Wisconsin Office of Rural Health Rural Communities Grant Program 2014-15 Project Title: Planning for Healthier Lifestyles in Polk County Planning Proposal: X APPLICATION COVER SHEET -- Attachment A Implementation Proposal: Coalition Name: Polk United Healthier Together Amount Requested: $5, 000 Applicant Organization (who will contract with the University of Wisconsin) Legal Name: Polk County Health Department Name: Gretchen Sampson Phone: 715-485-8506 Administrator, Executive Director, or CEO Title: Director/Health Officer Email: gretchens@co.polk.wi.us Name: Gretchen Sampson Person authorized to sign the contract Title: Director/Health Officer Project Contact Person Name: Mary Boe Title: Health Educator Organization: Polk County Health Department List all active partners (those responsible for activities and/or contributing matching/in-kind contributions). Use an additional page if necessary this will not count against your page total: Amery Regional Medical Center Osceola Medical Center Polk County Health Department Polk United Healthier Together Coalition St. Croix Regional Medical Center Polk County Sherriff s Department Polk County Human Services Department UW-Extension Polk County Health Department Page 1 of 10
Executive Summary Planning for Healthier Lifestyles in Polk County The Polk Untied-Healthier Together Coalition will partner with the Polk County Health Department (PCHD), Amery Regional Medical Center (ARMC), Osceola Medical Center (OMC), St. Croix Regional Medical Center (SCRMC), Polk County Sheriff s Department (PCSD), Polk County Human Services Department (PCHSD) and UW-Extension (UW-Ext) to develop a protocol for future implementation of alcohol age compliance checks in Polk County. The outcomes of this project will be 1) Local assessment data reflecting adult and youth perspectives on access to alcohol and common youth drinking practices, 2) Development of a Polk County Guide to Alcohol Age Compliance Checks, 3) A successful educational communication campaign regarding the burden of alcohol on youth in Polk County, and 4) An implementation plan for alcohol age compliance checks in Polk County. The project brings together key stakeholders from Polk s Community Health Improvement Plan s (CHIP) implementation action team who are committed to working on reducing the burden of alcohol in the county. The Project Action Team (PAT) will assess youth alcohol access and common drinking behaviors in Polk County by convening four adult focus groups and four youth focus groups throughout the county to assure the team captures a countywide perspective. The focus group discussion will be facilitated through the use of anonymous polling technology, while allowing additional time for further participant comment and discussion. By using anonymous polling, the PAT hopes to create an environment where participants feel safe and comfortable to discuss alcohol use in Polk s youth population. The data from the focus groups will be analyzed and compiled into an easy to read document that will help the PAT create a Polk County Guide to Alcohol Age Compliance Checks. In addition to the focus group data, research will be undertaken to identify best practice alcohol compliance check programs implemented across the country by other entities, so that a model best suited to Polk County can be selected. Once a draft of the guide is completed by the PAT, it will be submitted to the Polk United Healthier Together coalition for review and input. After the review process, Polk United will adopt the guide and conduct a press conference to introduce the guide and increase community awareness. While the guide is being drafted, an educational countywide communications campaign about the burden of alcohol on youth in Polk County will be implemented through the use of social media, public service announcements and press releases. Problem/Need Being Addressed The 2013 Polk County Community Health Needs Assessment identified Unhealthy Alcohol Use as well as Obesity Prevention and Mental Health as the top three priority health concerns in Polk County. These three priorities were identified through a collaborative process that included community members, key stakeholders as well as the Polk County Health Department, Amery Regional Medical Center, Osceola Medical Center and St. Croix Regional Medical Center. Polk County organizations and residents reviewed population health data and community survey data at four community forums and determined the most critical health issues for collaborative action. Consumption of too much alcohol is a risk factor for a number of adverse health outcomes. These include alcohol poisoning, high blood pressure, heart attack and interpersonal violence. Approximately 80,000 deaths are attributed annually to excessive drinking. It is the third leading Polk County Health Department Page 2 of 10
lifestyle-related cause of death for people in the United States each year. Polk County struggles with adverse health outcomes related to alcohol use as demonstrated below. Binge drinking is defined as consuming four or more alcoholic beverages for women and five or more alcoholic beverages for men on a single occasion in the past month. On the 2012 Polk County community health survey, approximately 30% of respondents (n=1,167) reported binge drinking in the past month. Excessive drinking is defined as engaging in either binge or heavy drinking, with heavy drinking defined as having more than one (women) or two (men) drinks on a typical day. The prevalence of excessive drinking in Polk County (23%) and Wisconsin (24%) far exceeds the national goal of 8%. Approximately 24% of boys and 16% of girls in Polk County report having had their first drink of alcohol before age 13 (other than a few sips). This is higher than for boys statewide (21%). Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death in Polk County, with a rate more than twice that of the state. Alcohol is far more likely to be a factor in those motor vehicle crashes in Polk County than in the state as a whole. Alcohol is involved in three times as many fatal car crashes than in the state overall. On the 2012 Community Health Survey of Polk County residents, when asked What s unhealthy about Polk County? a higher percentage of respondents (31%) cited concern about alcohol and other drug use more than any other single category. This data indicates that Polk County residents are concerned about unhealthy alcohol use in the community, therefore taking action is critical. In Wisconsin, alcohol is often seen as a must have at social events and is accepted as a cultural norm. Polk County is no different. Wisconsinites even acknowledge and poke fun at the drinking culture with the creation of slogans such as Drink Wisconsinably. These perceptions affect attitudes around alcohol use as well as policies. Public health science tells us that policy is the most effective way to impact behavior change. This project workplan focuses on policy implementation and raising public awareness about what high risk drinking is, the impact of selling to underage youth as well as clarifying what drinking responsibly actually means. While most communities across Wisconsin recognize the problem of unhealthy alcohol use, not all have the political will to address prevention strategies. It has taken three CHIP cycles for the Polk County community to decide that now is the time to work together on specific, evidence-based community interventions around alcohol use. The CHIP implementation action team is actively engaged in developing and implementing community health improvement plans to address unhealthy alcohol use in Polk County. Coalition Information (Description of the Coalition, Partners and Their Roles in the Project) Polk United-Healthier Together, a group of 30 community organizations and citizens, was formed in early 2012 after strategic planning was conducted for interested community organizations in response to a desire for a stronger collaborative network that would maximize communication, improve resource sharing and coordinate health improvement efforts to positively impact the health of Polk County citizens. PCHD acts as the lead agency of the coalition and provides leadership and meeting facilitation of the group. Polk United s mission is To engage stakeholders who will take collaborative action to create a healthier Polk County. Polk United has been very active in community CHIP work including providing representatives Polk County Health Department Page 3 of 10
on the three health focus area implementation teams. Roles of Polk County Health Department (PCHD), lead agency and partners are as follows and are also reflected in the project Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). Lead Agency shall undertake the following activities: a. Convene a subcommittee of Polk United to serve as oversight committee of the project; assure representation from diverse stakeholder groups b. Provide technical support to the oversight committee in terms of scheduling and facilitating meetings, taking meeting minutes and assuring distribution of subcommittee communication to other community partners c. Assure workplan progress is documented and facilitate ongoing evaluation of project compliance with objectives d. Maintain records of all grant related activities e. Create the final alcohol compliance investigation guidebook Partners shall undertake the following activities: a. Designate a consistent organizational representative to participate in the project action team meetings and associated work b. Regularly attend project meetings c. Provide technical support to created and disseminate educational media messages relevant to unhealthy alcohol use in Polk County d. Provide space for committee meetings e. Assist with youth and adult focus group meetings to assess youth procurement of alcoholic beverages f. Provide input into all draft documents created by the project action team History of the Planning Process to Date: Coalition members have brainstormed numerous grant application ideas that are relevant to Polk s most recent CHIP. Members are consistently supportive of projects that have a youth focus believing that early intervention is the preferred strategy in making long term impact on community health issues. Alcohol Age compliance checks aligned with this philosophy and were selected as a focus area. A workplan was created by the lead agency and shared with coalition members and partners for review. The workplan was revised to include input provided, and the grant proposal including the workplan was approved to move forward. Work Plan & Narrative (See Attachment B) This work plan has been created to start addressing early youth initiation of alcohol and create awareness and knowledge about the burden of unhealthy alcohol use by the citizens of Polk County. The primary intent of the workplan is to create further awareness about unhealthy alcohol use and build community support for changing the current alcohol culture. Project Goal: To Reduce Underage Drinking in Polk County Objective # 1: Identify and convene a project action team within Polk United Healthier Together to address alcohol age compliance checks Polk County Health Department Page 4 of 10
Recruiting key stakeholders will ensure that the group is representative of all sectors of Polk County as well as include leaders who can influence change. Consistent meetings will help to guide the process and allow action team members to be invested in achieving the goals. The meetings will also maintain a channel for reporting on progress and the ability to evaluate progress to date and make process improvement changes as needed. Objective # 2: Conduct an assessment of youth access and drinking practices in Polk County The process used will be to assess the unique culture of drinking in Polk County by holding focus groups for both youth and adults. To allow for more open responses from the focus groups, we will use anonymous polling technology. There will also be time for further comments and discussion. The focus group data will be compiled to allow the action team to create an informed guide for alcohol age compliance checks. Objective # 3: Create a written Polk County guide to alcohol age compliance checks Objective one and two will establish a solid framework for creating a Polk County Guide to Alcohol Age Compliance checks that will establish procedures and policies that address the specific alcohol practices in Polk County. The research into protocols used in other states and localities along with coalition input will guarantee the creation of a comprehensive best practice guide specific to Polk County. Objective # 4: Educate community members about the burden of alcohol on youth in Polk County through a communication campaign A communication campaign around the burden of alcohol on youth in Polk County will be conducted. This activity will increase public awareness and knowledge about the issue and create further support for moving the initiative forward. Creating an effective targeted campaign is necessary to maximize the effectiveness of the messaging. The campaign will focus on the negative effects of unhealthy alcohol use and also disclose summary information that was gleaned from the focus groups. Objective # 5: Develop an implementation plan for alcohol age compliance checks in Polk County This final objective will help to ensure that there is a smooth transition from planning to implementation of alcohol age compliance checks in Polk County. The Project Action Team will develop a draft implementation plan for review by Polk United at the beginning of the implementation phase in the next grant cycle. Evaluation Plan The outcomes of this project will be 1) Local assessment data on adult and youth perspective on access to alcohol and common youth drinking practices, 2) Development of a Polk County Guide to Alcohol Age Compliance Checks, 3) A successful educational communication campaign regarding the burden of alcohol on youth in Polk County, and 4) An implementation plan for alcohol age compliance checks in Polk County. Project evaluation will be ongoing throughout the project. Since this grant focuses on process oriented outcomes, measurement of outcomes completed should be relatively simple. The PAT will review the work plan objectives at their monthly meetings to gauge progress and will update Polk County Health Department Page 5 of 10
Polk United on project achievements at coalition meetings. Outcomes will be compared to the indicators stated in the workplan. As the work plan is revisited both at the PAT meetings and Polk United coalition meetings, adjustments in the workplan approach and activities will be made if outcome indicators are not being met. Quality improvement tools and processes will be used to determine root cause analysis of any problems encountered so that strategies can be implemented to assure progress on project objectives. At the end of this first year of planning, feedback from the PAT on their involvement in the project will be measured through a survey tool such as Survey Monkey. This feedback will allow the team to measure satisfaction with the project partnership and offer an opportunity to strengthen the partnership for the implementation phase of the project in the next grant period. Budget and Narrative (See Attachment C) Budget expenditures reflect project implementation activities. The total budget is $6,250 including the $1,250 inkind support from the partner organizations. Supplies: $100 is budgeted for printing of the Guide for Alcohol Age Compliance Checks in Polk County Consultants: Each participating partner organization will receive a $650 stipend for attending monthly meetings and assisting with implementing project objectives including the youth and adult focus groups, the countywide communications campaign and researching best practice programs around alcohol age compliance checks. These seven organizations will also contribute $1250 in matching inkind support to the project via marketing efforts in the communications campaign as well as providing meeting space and supplies to the PAT. Subway restaurant gift cards of $5.00 (Total Budget $250) each will be offered to focus group attendees for their participation in the assessment of alcohol access and practices of youth in Polk County. Advertising: $100 is budgeted to support paid ads in local media for the countywide communications campaign on the burden of alcohol on Polk County youth. This project will be sustained by the Polk United Healthier Together coalition after the end of the planning and implementation grant period. With completion of the guide to conducting compliance checks, increased support of the community due to the project communications campaign about underage drinking and actual experience doing compliance checks during the next phase of grant funding, the process of institutionalizing and conducting alcohol age compliance checks can be managed and supported by Polk United. Polk County Health Department Page 6 of 10
ATTACHMENT B Work-plan Project Goal To Reduce Underage Drinking in Polk County Outcomes 1) Assessment of youth and adult perspectives on youth access and drinking practices Polk County, 2) Development of a Polk County Guide to Alcohol Age Compliance Checks, 3) Successful media campaign regarding the burden of alcohol on youth in Polk County, and 4) An implementation plan for alcohol age compliance checks in Polk County. Objective # 1: Identify and convene a project action team within Polk United Healthier Together to address alcohol age compliance checks Activities Completion Responsible Date Organization Measures Outcomes 1. Convene key stakeholders to be a part of the project action team (PAT) September 30 th, 2014 Polk United List of key stakeholders recruited to be part of the PAT is formed 2. The PAT will meet monthly to assure project objective are accomplished August 31, Polk County Health Department (PCHD) action team Meeting Minutes Data/information showing outcomes have been achieved Objective # 2: Conduct an assessment of youth access and drinking practices in Polk County Activities 1. Convene 4 adult focus groups throughout Polk County using anonymous polling technology software 2. Convene 4 youth focus groups throughout Polk County using anonymous polling technology software Completion Responsible Date Organization December 31, 2014 UW-Extension PCHD December 31, 2014 UW-Extension PCHD Measures 5-10 adult participants per focus group 5-10-2youth participants per focus group Outcomes Data on adult perspective on youth access and drinking practices in Polk County Data on youth perspective on access and drinking practices in Polk County Polk County Health Department Page 7 of 10
3. Compile and analyze focus group data February 28, 4. Complete final written report of focus group data March 31, PCHD PCHD Aggregate and qualitative and quantitative data from focus groups Analysis of focus group data Draft analysis of focus group data Report of common youth drinking practices in Polk Objective # 3: Create a written Polk County guide to alcohol age compliance checks Activities Completion Responsible Date Organization Measures 1. Research best practice processes for April 30, PAT 5 best practice example alcohol age compliance checks processes for alcohol age compliance checks 2. Review best practices and select model April 30, 3. Project action team will compile a May 31, draft Polk County Guide to alcohol age compliance checks 4. Share draft with Polk United coalition for review and input. 5. Adopt Polk County Guide to alcohol age compliance checks 6. Conduct a press conference to release the Guide and increase community awareness June 30, June 30, Outcomes Comprehensive list of best practice processes for alcohol age compliance checks Model best practice PAT Meeting minutes, reviewer comments selected PCHD Meeting minutes Draft Polk County guide on alcohol age compliance checks PCHD Meeting minutes and coalition comments and suggestions Final Draft of Polk County guide on alcohol age compliance checks Polk United Meeting minutes Polk County guide on alcohol age compliance checks July 15, Polk United 1 press conference held Printed media Objective # 4: Educate community members about the burden of alcohol on youth in Polk County through a communication campaign Completion Responsible Activities Measures Outcomes Date Organization Polk County Health Department Page 8 of 10
1. Design a social media campaign regarding the burden of alcohol on youth in Polk County 2. Develop public service announcements regarding the burden of alcohol on youth in Polk County 3. Develop press releases regarding the burden of alcohol on youth in Polk County June 30, June 30, June 30, County Medical centers County Medical centers Meeting minutes Meeting minutes Completed social media campaign that will be implemented Completed public service announcements that will be released PCHD Meeting minutes Completed press released that will be submitted to local media contacts Objective # 5: Develop an implementation plan for alcohol age compliance checks in Polk County Activities Completion Responsible Date Organization Measures Outcomes 1. The PAT will draft an implementation plan for alcohol age compliance checks in Polk County August 31, PAT Meeting minutes Draft implementation plan Polk County Health Department Page 9 of 10
BUDGET CATEGORY Attachment C Budget Planning for Healthier Lifestyles in Polk County Project Budget DESCRIPTION GRANT REQUEST MATCHING/IN- KIND CONTRIBUTION S TOTAL PROJECT EXPENSE Wages 0 Fringe Benefits 0 Travel (Calculate mileage at $.51/mile) Equipment 0 Supplies Consultants/ Grants Printing of alcohol age compliance guides $650 stipend per seven partner organizations for participation in PAT meetings Subway coupons for incentives for youth & adults in focus groups (25 adults x $5 and 25 youth x $5) $100 $100 $4,550 $250 0 $1250 $6,050 Other Costs Advertising $100 $100 TOTAL $5,000 $1,250 $6,250 Polk County Health Department Page 10 of 10