do your thing The National Center on Health, Physical Activity and Disability (NCHPAD) is positioned to effect change in health promotion/obesity management among people with disabilities through its existing 13-year history of providing advocacy, services and programs to numerous organizations and people throughout the country. The primary focus of the Center’s approach is to collaborate with the nation’s leading health advocacy and disability organizations in linking them to the hundreds of program initiatives ongoing across the nation, and using this framework to build inclusion and integration into these existing programs. The Center is focusing on five key goal areas: (a) Developing Leadership through the formation of localInclusive Health Coalitions (IHCs) that support community health inclusion for children, adults and seniors with disabilities across community sectors (schools, fitness centers, workplaces, health care facilities, and community-at-large); (b) Providing individualized Information, Referral and Consultation services to people with disabilities, families, caregivers, policymakers, organizations, community members, health care practitioners and public health professionals through an expansive array of web-based materials customized to end users; (c) Promoting community and individual behavior change through a Health Communications network that channels social media between and within disability and non-disability service providers and organizations; (d) Developing a set of guidelines/criteria to promote inclusive Policies in physical activity, nutrition and lifestyle weight management and establishing Partnerships with major leaders in the disability and public health communities to ensure inclusion into various community transformation programs; and (e) Developing a comprehensive Training initiative that educates disability and non-disability service providers in community health inclusion. The expected results of the Center’s activities include 1) greater support for promoting inclusive policies, systems and environments that support the needs of people with disabilities; and 2) improved health behaviors (i.e., physical activity and nutrition) and better weight management strategies for addressing obesity in children and adults with disabilities.

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