Social Innovation for Missouri: Final Report

Through its Social Innovation for Missouri (SIM) initiative, the Missouri Foundation for Health (MFH) funded seven organizations with community health improvement goals aimed at combatting tobacco use and obesity by providing nutrition education, increasing physical activity opportunities, improving the built environment, passing effective tobacco and wellness policies, and increasing smoking cessation services. This was to be accomplished through its Community Health Improvement (CHI) model, which emphasized collaboration across multiple sectors and among diverse stakeholders.

The study assessed how the seven locations implemented this model and these activities. The study found that:

• 149 total policies were adopted in the SIM intervention communities;
• All seven SIM communities made changes and improvements to the built environment; and
• The SIM initiative provided community residents with access to healthy food, physical activity, and smoking cessation.