Partnership Roles in Early-Learning Providers' Healthy Eating and Physical Activity Programs: A Qualitative Study

Background: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provide recommendations for children's physical activity (PA) and nutrition practices. Community partnerships in school-based programs are recommended by the CDC to support children's opportunities to regularly engage in these practices. Purpose: Informing the role of Health Educators and community partners, the research purpose was to explore how to support early-learning providers' healthy eating and PA programs. Methods: Drawing upon interpretive description methodology, 13 Indiana early-learning providers participated in one-on-one interviews. Participants shared experiences of, and recommendations for, building school health partnerships and programs. Three areas for supporting programs were identified and recontextualized into guiding questions for practice. Results: Health Educators and community partners can support providers by developing or acquiring resources, such as examples of classroom PA delivery. They can contribute by providing program planning services, like co-developing PA programs with teachers and meal planning with staff. By creating networking opportunities, community partners can initiate online or in-person knowledge-sharing and mentor-mentee programs. Discussion: These findings inform how Health Educators and community partners can be involved in school-based health promotion by providing insight into partnership roles. Translation to Health Education Practice: The practical questions can be used to guide the development of collaborations.