Intervention Costs From Communities Putting Prevention to Work

• Published in: Preventing chronic disease 2016-07, Vol.13, p.E98-E98, Article 150368
• Main Authors: Honeycutt, Amanda A, Khavjou, Olga A, Bradley, Christina, Neuwahl, Simon, Hoerger, Thomas J, Bellard, David, Cash, Amanda J
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S.); Chronic Disease - prevention & control; Community Health Services - economics; Costs and Cost Analysis; Exercise; Health Promotion - economics; Humans; Obesity - prevention & control; Original Research; Program Evaluation - economics; Tobacco Use - prevention & control; United States
• ISSN: 1545-1151; 1545-1151
• DOI: 10.5888/pcd13.150368

In 2010, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention funded 50 communities to participate in the Communities Putting Prevention to Work (CPPW) program. CPPW supported community-based approaches to prevent or delay chronic disease and promote wellness by reducing tobacco use and obesity. We collected the direct costs of CPPW for the 44 communities funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and analyzed costs per person reached for all CPPW interventions and by intervention category. From 2011 through 2013, we collected quarterly data on costs from the 44 CPPW ARRA-funded communities. We estimated CPPW program costs as spending on labor; consultants; materials, travel, and services; overhead activities; and partners plus the value of in-kind donations. We estimated communities' costs per person reached for each intervention implemented and compared cost allocations across communities that focused on reducing tobacco use, or obesity, or both. Analyses were conducted in 2014; costs are reported in 2012 dollars. The largest share of CPPW total costs of $363 million supported interventions in communities that focused on obesity ($228 million). Average costs per person reached were less than $5 for 84% of tobacco-related interventions, 88% of nutrition interventions, and 89% of physical activity interventions. Costs per person reached were highest for social support and services interventions, almost $3 for tobacco‑use interventions and $1 for obesity prevention interventions. CPPW cost estimates are useful for comparing intervention cost per person reached with health outcomes and for addressing how community health intervention costs vary by type of intervention and by community size.