Change Causes Changes! If you want to change a child’s behavior, change the child’s environment! Coordinating the implementation of the CATCH program will lead to an environmental change in your school. The school community will become more aware of their eating and physical activity behaviors; meals in the cafeteria will change; opportunities to be physically active will increase; parents will be visiting the school, wanting to know why their children are coming home with suggestions on how to plan and prepare healthier meals; and signs and posters throughout the school, most produced by students, will depict children, adults and families being active and healthy.

It’s About Communication……The simplest truths are the most profound and the simple truth that leads to successful implementation of CATCH and environmental change in your school is COMMUNICATION. If a group of committed people meet together on a regular basis and has the authority to identify what needs to be changed, supported, eliminated or created to achieve environmental change within the school, they will eventually arrive at their intended destination. Establishing and adhering to policies and procedures that keep a communication process operational is the first, and most important, step.

And Coordination! Every elementary school in Texas teaches some health lessons, offers
physical education, serves healthy foods in the cafeteria, and provides other health services to its students. The problem is, the faculty and staff working in these programs are not talking with one another. Again, it’s about coordinating the communication of health messages and health practices throughout the school on a daily basis that creates an environment where children learn the knowledge and skills that will change their lives. Thus, successful implementation of CATCH depends on creating a school-based committee that can coordinate the efforts of everyone involved in the project.

Once the school based commttee group is assembled, they should be guided by the following basic principles:

• At Your Pace - Building a successful coordinated school health program will take time. Similar to successfully losing weight, this is not a diet, it’s a lifestyle change. Set yourself up for success initially by identifying tasks that can be achieved without spending a lot of money or time.
  
• With Your Resources - Whether you have a little or a lot, it’s more about what you do together to reinforce coordinated health messages across the school. Establishing a monthly “Favorite Fruit Day” routine where the children bring their favorite fruit to school for snack doesn't’t cost anything. Yet it can have a lasting impact on a child’s perception of the value of eating fruits over sweets.
  
• At Your School - You and your school are unique. You know what’s best for your kids. You know what the parents’ interests are and their level of involvement in the school. You know where to find community support. Your coordinated program will also be unique to your school. Nevertheless, it will be identical to all other successful programs in one important way: it will be a coordinated program cooperatively planned and managed by a group of faculty, staff, parents and community volunteers committed to helping children be healthy for a lifetime.

Coordinating a school health program can begin long before actual implementation of the CATCH Program. Helping decision makers understand the need for a Coordinated School Health Program (CSHP), educating your school community, and identifying sources of funding are just a few of the steps you may need to address prior to training. Click here for helpful suggestions on initiating the process of coordinating your school’s heath program and services at the school or district level.

Following training, the task of making a school’s CSHP effectively will be up to the individual school’s CATCH Committee. Since that Committee will be made up of the school’s faculty and staff - who have plenty to do before agreeing to serve on another committee - it is absolutely essential that they understand how to successfully manage the development of their CSHP in simple, basic ways. While the program will have a profound affect on the school, it doesn't’t have to have a profound affect on the work load of committee members. Read On!

Stay Together – Keep Meeting

A basic definition of “coordination” is: To act in a smooth, concerted way. So, how do you act in a smooth and concerted way? By communicating with those who share a common goal! Communication is both the most profound and the simplest truth of successful coordination. Essentially, if a school’s CATCH Committee continues to meet for the purpose of making their CSHP effective, they will ultimately succeed regardless of the barriers they might face.

Stay Focused On Your Vision

Embrace change and the time it will take to reach the goal. Coordinated school health is not a diet, it’s a lifestyle change. It will take time to institutionalize healthy routines and programs so they become habits. Continuing to talk about (i.e., communicate) each other’s dreams (i.e., vision) helps everyone reach their individual and collective goals.

Set Yourself Up To Succeed

Reach for the stars with your feet planted firmly on the ground. Initially, identify coordinated tasks (PDF) or events that can be accomplished without spending a lot of money or time that you do not have. For instance, a sign in the school lobby with a “catchy” phrase announcing the CATCH program or signs in designated areas of the school campus identifying “No Junk Food Zones” are easy to accomplish but can have a significant affect. The “message” they convey is that the school community is working together to make the school a healthy place to work and learn.

Initially setting and achieving simple goals serves three important purposes. First, it provides concrete evidence that the CATCH Committee can succeed. Second, it motivates the group to continue to work together and, third, it prepares them for more complex coordinated efforts as the program grows.

The most significant factor in the failure of a CSHP is over-reaching available resources. Too many times, a committee will create a beautiful yet unrealistic plan. When it doesn't’t come to fruition, everyone gets frustrated and eventually the whole project collapses.

Build Coalitions

Whenever possible, hook up with other organizations that will support your goals. Almost every community has volunteers associated with health related agencies whose organizational goals match those of a CSHP. Remember, it’s about coordination! Building coalitions with community organizations will work wonders for your CSHP.

Celebrate The Message

Coordinated school health programs are designed to celebrate living healthy, happy lives. Through games, play, eating breakfast and lunch and participating in classroom lessons, children learn and apply knowledge and skills from multiple content areas across the curriculum. Children love to learn and practice personal health behaviors. Their actions validate their ability to control their life in positive ways. Communicate that enthusiasm and positive energy with your audiences and you will reap countless benefits.

Make No Enemies

There will be people who disagree with the function and actions of the CSHP and the CATCH Committee. It is their right and responsibility to support their beliefs. Seek our your opponent’s view. Establish a respectful relationship with them by discussing your differences in private, prior to “going public.” Show your adversary that you are a rational, thoughtful person who truly wants to help children succeed and you can be trusted. By doing so, you will be able to control the emotional level of subsequent disagreements and prevent differences of opinion from becoming fodder for the front page of the local paper.

Document Success

Aside from the success of the original CATCH trials being scientifically documented in over 80 peer-reviewed journal articles, it is important for schools to be able to document that their CSHP is working. Initially, the challenge is to ensure that a CSHP exists and continues to function in ways that will cause the environment to change. Click here for an authentic assessment checklist that can be adapted to fit the needs of most any school.

Measuring Behavioral Change

Measuring behavioral change can be time consuming, expensive and doesn't always follow expected timelines. For instance, a misconception among the public is that changes in health behaviors can be documented, in a short period of time, through physiological determinants such as body mass indices. In fact, actual changes in body composition may take years to reveal itself due to growth and development changes related to the aging of children.

The most reliable protocol for measuring behavior change requires employing research methodologies that impose rigid controls on those conducting programs over an extended period of time. Since this course of action is not feasible for public schools, other less expensive and time consuming methods for answering the behavior change question must be found. To discuss this issue further and determine what instruments are available for your school, contact the CATCH office 1-866-346-6163 or email Karen Doramus-Burnell, CATCH National Program Director.

 

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