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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Recorded presentation

Jeffery S. Rosenhall, MA and Lisa A. Cirill. California Center for Physical Activity, California Department of Health Services, P.O. Box 997413, MS 7211, Sacramento, CA 95899-7413, 916-552-9885, jrosenha@dhs.ca.gov

California's local public health agencies have recognized the need to reinsert themselves in built environment decisions but most lack the specific expertise to get started. CA DHS offered training to local public health agencies coupled with mini-grants to support change efforts and create a cadre of public health and built environment specialists statewide. The 2005 pilot project, comprised of training, teleconferences, and mini-grants, was deemed successful and will continue. Training targeted public health practitioners who had no previous experience with planning and land use concepts. The workshop reviewed public health impacts of the built environment including presentations on land use, street design, housing and transportation, with a walking audit of surrounding neighborhoods to familiarize staff with examples of street and community design that ensure safe conditions for walking and bicycling while identifying needed improvements. Teleconferences provided additional opportunities to educate local public health agency staff on built environment content; speakers included planning commissioners, directors of public health departments, epidemiologists, planners, and, environmental health experts. Eight local public health agencies received mini-grants to implement activities utilizing their new knowledge. Counties engaged in strategic planning, walk audits, crafted policy documents, collaborated with planning departments, and offered input in local land-use decisions. This project shows that local public health agencies can impact the built environment significantly even with limited time and money. The project has encouraged information-exchange and cooperation: there is now more built environment knowledge within California's public health staff and communities have benefited from this shared wisdom.

Learning Objectives:

• Participants will learn to recognize why built environment competency is relevant to local public health agencies.
• Participants will identify key concepts of land use and transportation planning to include in a basic training program for public health staff.
• Participants will be prepared to create their own built environment training program for local public health agency staff.

Keywords: Planning, Environment

Related Web page: www.caphysicalactivity.org

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No

Recorded presentation