TY - JOUR AU - Sharma, Shreela V. AU - Upadhyaya, Mudita AU - Schober, Daniel J. AU - Byrd-Williams, Courtney PY - 2014 TI - A Conceptual Framework for Organizational Readiness to Implement Nutrition and Physical Activity Programs in Early Childhood Education Settings T2 - Preventing Chronic Disease JO - Prev Chronic Dis SP - E190 VL - 11 CY - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia 30333, USA. N2 - Across multiple sectors, organizational readiness predicts the success of program implementation. However, the factors influencing readiness of early childhood education (ECE) organizations for implementation of new nutrition and physical activity programs is poorly understood. This study presents a new conceptual framework to measure organizational readiness to implement nutrition and physical activity programs in ECE centers serving children aged 0 to 5 years. The framework was validated for consensus on relevance and generalizability by conducting focus groups; the participants were managers (16 directors and 2 assistant directors) of ECE centers. The framework theorizes that it is necessary to have "collective readiness," which takes into account such factors as resources, organizational operations, work culture, and the collective attitudes, motivation, beliefs, and intentions of ECE staff. Results of the focus groups demonstrated consensus on the relevance of proposed constructs across ECE settings. Including readiness measures during program planning and evaluation could inform implementation of ECE programs targeting nutrition and physical activity behaviors. SN - 1545-1151 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.5888/pcd11.140166 DO - 10.5888/pcd11.140166 ER -