Sustaining Your Work: The Power of Communicating Your Success

Background:  Half of all adults in the US have a chronic disease. Addressing healthy living and chronic disease prevention at the community level brings the greatest health benefits to the greatest number of people in need. Many individuals and organizations that conduct programs and activities often seek additional support, funding, or resources. Often, these organizations face the challenge of communicating the work they are doing in a clear, compelling manner that community members and stakeholders understand. 

Program background:  The National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (NCCDPHP) Success Stories Application is a web-based resource designed to help chronic disease programs and organizations nationwide to better tell their stories locally and nationally. Using a series of questions and examples to identify challenges, solutions, and results, the application provides a standardized, streamlined process to gather and position information to ensure compelling, consistent, and effective story telling. Additionally, the site features Impact Statements that briefly state the change in the community or how many lives were reached (or impacted) as a result of an organization’s work. The application enables users to create and easily modify professionally polished success stories to share with the stakeholders in their community in a cost and time-efficient manner. In June 2012, the Success Stories Application was launched for the Division of Community Health. 

Evaluation Methods and Results:  Due to the increased demand for high-quality success stories, showcasing chronic disease prevention work, the Application was expanded. In January 2016, the Application was updated with a new name, new features and an updated list of programs reflecting the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (NCCDPHP). This allows NCCDPHP to capture the culmination of work across 9 divisions and allows for a way to easily and quickly showcase how the work touches lives. As of March 2017, there are nearly 4,400 stories created in the Application with 2,113 users across the U.S.

Conclusions:  Success stories communicate the changes that are happening across the country to make healthy living easier where people live, learn, work, and play. Success stories can garner additional support  and contribute to the knowledge of what works in community health.

Implications for research and/or practice:  The Application offers chronic disease programs and organizations nationwide a clear, concise way to share their work. The Writer’s Resource Center offers videos, PDF documents, and links to help users write compelling and succinct stories that will get the attention of their stakeholders. Users can save different versions of the same story so that they can be customized for specific stakeholders. The downloaded PDF or Word document of the story can be printed in house to save writing, designing, and printing time and costs. Additionally, the Application’s Success Stories Library allows chronic disease programs and organizations to learn from others working in the same areas.