Partnership to reduce disparities in asthma and obesity in latino schools

APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Guillermo Gomez, MS, Healthy Schools Campaign, 205 W. Monroe, 4th Floor, Chicago, IL 60606, 312.419.1810, ggomez@healthyschoolscampaign.org, Idida Perez, West Town Leadership United, 1116 N. Kedzie, Chicago, IL 60651, and Jovita Flores, Little Village Environmental Justice Organization, 2856 S. Millard Ave., Chicago, IL 60623.

Schools serving minority and low-income students suffer disproportionately from environmental hazards. These hazards include poor indoor air quality and nutritionally poor food choices which contribute to increased rates of asthma-related conditions and obesity in these communities.

The Partnership to Reduce Disparities in Asthma and Obesity in Latino Schools brings together community-based organizations, advocacy organizations, health care providers and a university partner. The Partnership uses a community-based participatory research model to create a community-led process for addressing public health issues related to asthma and obesity in two Latino communities—one predominantly Puerto Rican and one predominantly Mexican. Having an active role in the project's method and process, communities develop an understanding of the importance of good school environmental health, and gain tools and resources to address environmental stressors that will improve their overall quality of life.

The goal of this project is to develop effective strategies for motivating and empowering parents, students and community members in minority urban communities to impact school policies relating to environmental health and school food. Aim One: Develop a better understanding of the school environment's impact, and a large school district's policies that influence this environment, on asthma and obesity. Aim Two: Develop a common language between “professionals” and “community members/parents” that will be used to motivate school administrators to take action to improve the school environment. Aim Three: Evaluate two different models of community organizing in a school-based setting. Aim Four: Open lines of communication and working partnerships between schools and community health providers.

Learning Objectives:

Upon completion of this presentation, participants will be able to

(a) describe how to utilize community based participatory research to engage community organizations in school health advocacy.
(b) explain how community based organizations developed a leadership team to work on school health.
(c) develop an assessment and evaluation framework using community based participatory research.

Keywords: Community Collaboration, Environmental Justice

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No

Recorded presentation

Environmental Justice and Access to Healthy Foods: Developing Community-University Partnerships to Address the Built Environment

The 134th Annual Meeting & Exposition (November 4-8, 2006) of APHA