VIVA (Village Interventions and Venues for Action) Connects fosters collaboration for spreading relevant, useful, evidence-based prevention strategies to rural communities throughout New Mexico, with a focus on sharing examples of on-the-ground implementation of best practices. It includes a web-based platform that serves as an engagement and communication portal for promoting active communities. The website contains relevant and useful information on community programs, current evidence-based recommendations for such programs, user-tested prevention strategies, best practices and lessons learned, “ask the expert” facilitation, and training modules and webinars.
This partnership, formed in 2007, continues working today to adapt and implement in one small town the Community Guide’s evidence-based recommendations for promoting physical activity and to evaluate the effectiveness of the strategies used. VIVA Connects is a way to share our successes—and lessons learned—in Cuba with other communities who want to learn from our experience and to, in turn, showcase the successes of other VIVA Action Communities of Practice those communities share their experiences.
