| Course | HLTH 5473 School-Community Health Partnerships |
|---|---|
| Module | Module 5 |
| Paper type | Partnership action plan |
| Length | 1,240 words, about 5 pages plus title and reference pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | American College of Education |
| Program | M.Ed. in Health and Wellness Education |
| Updated | September 2026 |
Free sample paper for HLTH 5473 Module 5
Strong Together: A Two-Year School-Community Partnership Action Plan to Lower Diabetes Risk Among Students at a Rural Middle School
Student Name
American College of Education
HLTH5473: School-Community Health Partnerships
Module 5 Assignment
Instructor Name
November 2, 2026
Purpose
This paper presents the action plan for Strong Together, a partnership between a composite rural middle school and its community to lower diabetes risk among students. Earlier modules assessed the community's needs and assets, identified partners and a two-tier structure, designed outreach that reaches families where they are and explained the condition, its causes and what schools and communities can realistically achieve. The plan turns that work into goals, strategies, roles, a timeline, resources and an evaluation. It follows the principle that a school cannot change children's health alone but can lead a community effort in which each partner contributes what it does best.
Goal and Objectives
The partnership's goal is that every student at the school has daily opportunities to be active, eat well and get care when needed, so that fewer students develop prediabetes and type 2 diabetes. Measurable objectives for the end of the second school year are: the share of students reporting 60 minutes of physical activity on at least five days a week will rise from 23% to 35%; the share reporting at least one sugary drink a day will fall from 71% to 55%; at least 150 students and 100 family members will take part in cooking or garden programs; at least 80% of students referred for elevated blood sugar will complete a visit with a clinician within three months; and the share of students meeting aerobic fitness standards on the school's annual assessment will rise by ten percentage points. These objectives focus on behaviors and connections that the partnership can influence within two years.
Strategy 1: Daily Activity
The school will add ten-minute activity breaks to classes in all grades and extend physical education time where the schedule allows. A free after-school activity club, co-led by coaches and the parks department three afternoons a week, will offer games, walking and sports for students who are not on teams, with a late bus to address transportation. The parks department will add lighting and mile markers to the rail-trail and host monthly family walks with the volunteer fire department. Churches will run weekly walking groups for families. School and community facilities will be shared through a joint-use agreement so that the gym and fields are open on some evenings and weekends. Evidence from school-based prevention supports strengthening physical activity as part of a broader program (HEALTHY Study Group, 2010).
Strategy 2: Healthy Food and Drinks
The food service director will work with the local chef to improve the appeal of healthy menu items, run monthly taste tests and install water bottle filling stations in hallways and the gym. School fundraisers and events will replace sugary drinks with water and fruit. The extension office will run a six-week cooking club for students after school and family cooking nights at the Baptist church and the Catholic parish, the latter in Spanish. A school garden, built with help from the 4-H program and parent volunteers, will supply taste tests and a summer produce stand. The grocery store will be invited to offer a discount on fruit and vegetables to families who attend cooking nights. Story et al. (2009) described school food environments and policies, including meal standards and limits on competitive foods, as key levers in preventing obesity, and the partnership's food strategy applies those levers alongside community programs.
Strategy 3: Connection to Care
The school nurse will continue to receive referrals from pediatricians and the clinic and will watch for warning signs. For each student with elevated blood sugar or signs of insulin resistance, the nurse will contact the family privately, explain the concern in plain language and, with consent, arrange a visit with the clinic's nurse practitioner, who will hold monthly appointment times at the school. The clinic will offer follow-up and family education, and the counselor will be available for students affected by stigma or stress. Transportation vouchers and interpreters will be provided as needed. All communication will follow privacy rules and the partnership's commitment to avoid singling out students.
Roles and Governance
The core partnership team, made up of school leaders and staff, the three health partners, the extension educator, two faith representatives, two parents and a student, will meet monthly, review data and make decisions by consensus where possible. The school nurse will serve as coordinator, supported by a part-time community health worker funded through the health department. Each strategy will have a lead partner: the physical education teacher and parks department for activity, the extension office and food service director for food and the nurse and clinic for care connection. A written agreement will define roles, data sharing and credit. Butterfoss et al. (1993) noted that coalitions benefit from clear structure, shared leadership and attention to members' needs, and the governance plan reflects those lessons. Families will hold real seats at the table, consistent with community-based principles of shared power (Israel et al., 1998).
Timeline
In the first semester of year one, the team forms, signs agreements, hires the community health worker, starts activity breaks and the after-school club and runs the first family cooking nights. In the second semester, the water stations and garden are installed, trail improvements begin and clinic days at the school start. In year two, programs continue and expand based on data, the joint-use agreement opens facilities on weekends, the produce stand runs in summer and the team prepares a sustainability plan. Outreach follows the monthly calendar developed in Module 3 throughout.
Resources
The plan requires modest funding. The largest costs are the part-time community health worker, the late activity bus, trail lighting, the garden and water stations and supplies for cooking programs. Funding sources include the health department's chronic disease prevention grant, the extension office's federally funded nutrition education program, a state school health grant, the town's parks budget and in-kind contributions from churches, the chef, volunteers and the grocery store. The clinic's school visits will be billed to insurance where possible. In-kind time from partners, such as the extension educator and coaches, is the plan's largest resource and will be documented.
Evaluation
Evaluation will measure both process and outcomes. Process measures include attendance at the activity club, cooking nights and walks by language and neighborhood; the number of activity breaks delivered; water station use; and the number of referred students contacted and seen. Outcome measures come from the annual student survey on physical activity and sugary drinks, the school's fitness assessment and clinic data on follow-up for referred students, reported without identifying individuals. The team will review data each quarter and share an annual report with the community. Because diabetes rates change slowly, the partnership will judge success mainly by changes in behaviors, fitness and care connection over two years.
Sustainability
To last beyond its first grants, the partnership will embed changes in policy and routine: activity breaks and water-first rules will be written into school wellness policy, the joint-use agreement will be renewed annually, clinic days will be supported by billing and churches will adopt walking groups as ongoing ministries. The community health worker position will be proposed for ongoing health department funding based on results. Training student and parent leaders each year will keep the community's voice strong as individuals come and go. A plan that becomes part of how the school and town operate is more likely to protect the next generation of students.
References
Butterfoss, F. D., Goodman, R. M., & Wandersman, A. (1993). Community coalitions for prevention and health promotion. Health Education Research, 8(3), 315-330. https://doi.org/10.1093/her/8.3.315
HEALTHY Study Group. (2010). A school-based intervention for diabetes risk reduction. New England Journal of Medicine, 363(5), 443-453. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa1001933
Israel, B. A., Schulz, A. J., Parker, E. A., & Becker, A. B. (1998). Review of community-based research: Assessing partnership approaches to improve public health. Annual Review of Public Health, 19, 173-202. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.publhealth.19.1.173
Story, M., Nanney, M. S., & Schwartz, M. B. (2009). Schools and obesity prevention: Creating school environments and policies to promote healthy eating and physical activity. The Milbank Quarterly, 87(1), 71-100. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0009.2009.00548.x
Reading the HLTH 5473 Module 5 instructions
The last HLTH 5473 module typically asks you to write an action plan for the school-community partnership you have developed. Prompts usually expect a goal and measurable objectives, strategies tied to your priorities, clear roles for each partner, a governance structure, a timeline, resources and funding sources, an evaluation plan and steps toward sustainability. Draw each element from your earlier assessment, partner analysis, outreach strategy and health challenge analysis, so the plan reads as their conclusion. Keep objectives realistic for the time frame and name the data you will use. Give families and students real roles. See Canvas for whether a logic model, Gantt chart or budget table should accompany the plan.
How this HLTH 5473 Module 5 example is built
The example states one goal and five measurable objectives, then presents three strategies matching the priorities from Module 1: daily activity through classroom breaks, an after-school club and trail improvements; healthy food and drinks through the cafeteria, a garden, water stations and bilingual cooking nights; and connection to care through the nurse and school-based clinic days. Sections on roles and governance, timeline, resources, evaluation and sustainability complete the plan, with a lead partner named for each strategy and families seated on the core team. The evaluation relies mainly on behaviors, fitness and care connection, since diabetes rates change slowly, and results are shared with the community each year so families can see what their participation has achieved.
Where the points sit in the HLTH 5473 Module 5 rubric
Graders usually reward action plans that are specific, measurable and clearly connected to the earlier assessment. Each strategy should have a lead partner and a place in the timeline. Governance that shares power with families and students reflects the course's partnership principles. Realistic resources, including in-kind contributions, show feasibility. Evaluation should include both process and outcome measures with named data sources. Sustainability steps, such as policy changes, demonstrate long-term thinking. Organized sections and APA 7 citations for evidence and partnership frameworks complete the final paper. Be honest about what can change in two years, and explain how the partnership will know whether it is on track at each quarterly review.
HLTH 5473 Module 5 help from the desk
Action plans are where partnership papers either come together or fall apart. If you need help writing measurable objectives, assigning partner roles, finding funding sources or planning for sustainability, we can help. Bring the four papers you have written and the final prompt; the Module 5 plan we build from them will join your assessment, partners and outreach into one clear course of action with measures your instructor can follow from start to finish. If your partnership addresses a different challenge, such as student mental health, asthma or health literacy, we organize the same plan around that priority, your partners and your community's assets, and we make sure every objective names its data source.
Write yours, or have the desk draft it
This paper is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official American College of Education document. Read it for the moves, then write your own to the instructions in your classroom. If you want one built to your exact prompt and rubric, the first custom sample is free and arrives in 24 to 48 hours.
More HLTH 5473 and M.Ed. in Health and Wellness Education sample papers
- HLTH 5473 Module 1: School Community Assessment
- HLTH 5473 Module 2: Partner Analysis
- HLTH 5473 Module 3: Outreach Strategy
- HLTH 5473 Module 4: Health Challenge Analysis
- HLTH 5493 Module 3: Goals, Objectives and Activities
- HLTH 5433 Module 1: Leadership Approach Application
- HLTH 5483 Module 3: Evaluation Design
- HLTH 5423 Module 5: Age-Appropriate Education Plan
HLTH 5473 Module 5 questions, answered
What does HLTH5473 Module 5 usually ask for?
The final HLTH5473 module usually asks for a school-community partnership action plan with goals, measurable objectives, strategies, partner roles, a timeline, resources, evaluation and sustainability.
What makes partnership objectives measurable?
They state a baseline, a target and a date, and name the data source, such as a student survey, fitness assessment or program records.
How can a partnership last beyond its grants?
By writing changes into school policy, renewing agreements, securing ongoing funding for key roles and training new leaders each year.
Where can I find a free HLTH 5473 Module 5 sample paper?
A full Module 5 action plan, Strong Together, is available on this page, setting out activity, food and care strategies for a rural middle school and its partners, with roles, timeline, resources, evaluation and sustainability.
Should an action plan include families in governance?
Yes. Giving parents and students seats on the partnership team reflects shared power and helps keep the plan responsive to the community.