Catalyzing Communities
How do communities create policy, systems, and environmental change?
The study
Catalyzing Communities is a Tufts-led, whole-of-community approach to childhood obesity prevention and child health equity. Led by Christina Economos, the program brings together community leaders from multiple sectors to understand local conditions shaping health and choose actions that fit their community’s priorities.
From systems learning to community action
Through facilitated group model building, partners map the relationships and feedback loops influencing child health, identify leverage points, and review evidence for locally relevant strategies. Technical assistance and ongoing collaboration support the transition from systems learning to policy, systems, and environmental change.
The research examines how systems thinking, attention to health equity, relationships, and the sharing of knowledge and engagement support this process. Network data, interviews, and mixed-methods evaluation help the team understand how partnerships develop shared understanding and turn it into coordinated action.
Travis’s contribution
As a Co-Investigator and research and evaluation lead, Travis contributes study design, network and qualitative analysis, and mixed-methods evaluation. This work also provides a foundation for FICAS, which studies more targeted network-informed implementation supports for community partnerships.
Methods and contributions
Group model building · Social network analysis · Longitudinal qualitative interviews · Mixed-methods evaluation · Policy, systems, and environmental change
Full project title
Catalyzing Communities to Prevent Obesity: A Systems Approach