The Children’s Healthy Weight Research Group is excited to launch their new website and introduce their new team name and logo. After a thoughtful process, they are proud to call themselves the Community Health & Wellness Resource Team – a name that encompasses their mission, vision, and values to provide high-quality, evidence-based resources and research that support the health and well-being of all individuals.
Dr. Dianne S. Ward, the late founder and director of the Children’s Healthy Weight Research Group, played a key role in leading discussions surrounding this change. In this transition, they are guided by Dr. Ward’s vision for the future of the team and honoring her passion for ensuring optimal, equitable health and wellness.
The team’s early work and research focused on measuring and supporting children’s physical activity, nutrition, and health behaviors, particularly in care settings, with their hallmark tools including Go NAPSACC, the Environment and Policy Assessment and Observation (EPAO), and the Home Self-Administered Tool for Environmental Assessment of Activity and Diet (HomeSTEAD). With foundations in early childhood nutrition and physical activity, the Community Health & Wellness Resource Team’s research interests and work have expanded to support the overall health and wellness of caregivers and those in their care across the lifespan.
The Community Health & Wellness Resource Team will continue working toward their mission of supporting caregivers and those in their care by creating, evaluating, and implementing strategies to promote equitable health and wellness in early care and education settings and beyond. They look forward to their future work and impact and continuing Dr. Ward’s legacy of improving community health through evidence-based support, tools, and resources.
“The newly named Community Health & Wellness Resource Team has been a vital part of the Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention for over 20 years,” said Dr. Alice Ammerman, Director of the Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention. “The new name captures the very impressive growth and development of this group as well as their contributions to community health. Dr. Ward would be very proud of her team and their continued good work.”
This story is adapted from the original press release from CHWR.