Multi-Level, Multi-Component Approaches to Community Based Interventions for Healthy Living—A Three Case Comparison

There is increasing interest in integrated and coordinated programs that intervene in multiple community settings/institutions at the same time and involve policy and system changes. The purpose of the paper is to analyse three comparable cases of Multi Level, Multi Component intervention programs (ML-MC) from across the world in order to give recommendations for research, policy and practice in this field. Through the comparison of three cases: Health and Local Community (SoL-program), Children's Healthy Living (CHL) and B'More Healthy Communities for Kids (BHCK), this paper examines the potential of ML-MC community-based public health nutrition interventions to create sustainable change. The paper proposes methodology, guidelines and directions for future research through analysis and examination strengths and weaknesses in the programs. Similarities are that they engage and commit local stakeholders in a structured approach to integrate intervention components in order to create dose and intensity. In that way, they all make provisions for post intervention impact sustainability. All programs target the child and family members' knowledge, attitudes, behavior, the policy level, and the environmental level. The study illustrates the diversity in communities as well as diversity in terms of which and how sites and settings such as schools, kindergartens, community groups and grocery stores became involved in the programs. Programs are also different in terms of involvement of media stakeholders. The comparison of the three cases suggests that there is a need to build collaboration and partnerships from the beginning, plan for sufficient intensity/dose, emphasize/create consistency across levels and components of the intervention, build synchronization across levels, and plan for sustainability.