NIH R21 Built Environment Partnership Meeting

National Institutes of Health (NIH) R21 Built Environment Partnership Meeting

October 24–25, Bozeman, Montana

Attendee: Research Scientist Dr. Laura Balis 

Pictured above (left to right): Dr. Laura Balis walking alongside Dr. Michelle Grocke-Dewey in Montana.

Overview: Funded by the NIH and in partnership with the Montana State University Extension, CNHI launched a new project exploring Built Environment Implementation Strategies in the state of Montana. This project builds on the Center's focus work in physical activity and active living. Dr. Balis, as Principal Investigator, attended this first partnership meeting in Bozeman, Montana. 

Built environment approaches are evidence-based interventions that enable people across the lifespan to walk, bicycle, or wheelchair roll, and can mitigate barriers to physical activity by making the healthy choice the default choice. While existing research focuses on implementation strategies for community settings, little is known about effective strategies for integrating built environment approaches. CNHI identified a critical need to develop and test evidence-based, community-driven implementation strategies to build practice-level capacity for which local built environment approaches are needed and how to adapt them.  

“I’m excited to work with my co-investigator, Dr. Michelle Grocke-Dewey and Extension Agents throughout Montana on this project,” shared Dr. Balis. She continued, “This project shows the Center’s commitment to creating policies and environments that support physical activity and builds on the Center’s successes in improving nutrition policies and environments.” 

The long-term goals of this project are to establish an evidence base of tested implementation strategies to bridge research to practice in Extension that can ultimately improve physical activity levels, thereby reducing cancer risk. Initial pilot testing in Montana builds on the state's strong collaborative history and the presence of an integrated research-practice partnership (IRPP).