Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #105862

Edith C. Kieffer, MPH, PhD¹, Wanda Polderman, MPH², Christina Y. Blumentritt, MPH¹, Gale Cox, MS, RD¹, Paris Watson, BS¹, Sharon Sand, MPP³, Beverly Holman, MS, RD⁴, Jose Melendrez, MSW¹, Teretha Hollis-Neely, BS⁴, Cristina Ruiz⁴, Amy Schulz, PhD⁵, Brandie Hagaman², and Erica Jeffreys, MPH¹. (1) School of Social Work, University of Michigan, 1080 S. University, Box 183, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1106, (2) REACH Detroit Partnership, 1 Ford Place, Suite 1B, Detroit, MI 48202, 313.961.1030, bhagaman@chasscenter.org, (3) Promoting Healthy Eating in Detroit, University of Michigan, 1080 S. University, Box 183, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, (4) Department of Health and Wellness Promotion, City of Detroit, 1151 Taylor Street, Detroit, MI 48202, (5) Health Behavior and Health Education, University of Michigan, School of Public Health, 5134 SPH II, 1420 Washington Heights, Ann Arbor, MI 48109

Social and physical environmental barriers to healthy eating contribute to several health disparities. Promoting Healthy Eating in Detroit (PHED) is a CDC-funded community-based participatory research project affiliated with the Detroit Community-Academic Urban Research Center. PHED uses innovative community-based approaches to program and policy development to increase access to, and demand for, healthy foods by African American and Latino residents of two Detroit communities with limited resources. After initiating fresh produce mini-markets and food demonstrations at community organizations, work groups comprised of community-based organizations, grocers' associations, health department and university representatives developed and implemented healthy eating support groups, healthy food policies for community meetings and independent grocery store-based healthy food promotions. The work groups developed culturally and linguistically tailored materials; recruited and provided technical support to participating community groups, organizations and stores; and documented their work for the PHED case-study evaluation. Healthy eating support groups from existing social networks have been established and are self-maintaining. Community-based organizations have developed and implemented healthy food policies supporting healthy food and beverage choices at meetings. Plans for grocery store tours, healthy food displays, tasting and recipes; and free publicity assistance are underway. This presentation will describe the development, implementation and evaluation of PHED's services; describe activities aimed at building organizational capacity to sustain these innovative approaches; discuss facilitating factors and strategies that helped the partnership overcome barriers; and examine implications of lessons learned for future service delivery and policy change aimed at addressing health disparities associated with healthy food demand and supply.

Learning Objectives: