142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition

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296379
Pathways to a Community Empowerment: Implementing Advocacy Curriculum and Evaluating Access to Physical Activity Lennox Park: Lennox, California

142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition (November 15 - November 19, 2014): http://www.apha.org/events-and-meetings/annual
Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Belinda Campos, MPH , California Center for Public Health Advocacy, Baldwin Park, CA
Anna Parra , California Center for Public Health Advocacy, Baldwin Park, CA
Empowering residents to advocate for improved access to physical activity is essential in under-resourced communities. Studies have shown that communities that have access to physical activity opportunities, including parks, walking trails, and pools, have lower rates of childhood obesity. Two primary indicators that lead to increased childhood obesity rates in under-resourced communities are limited resources and high levels poverty. In partnership with the Asian and Pacific Islander Obesity Prevention Alliance (APIOPA), the California Center for Public Health Advocacy (CCPHA) trained Lennox residents to become agents of change on behalf of their community to advocate for improved physical activity opportunities for their children and families.  CCPHA staff trained the resident advocates using their evidence-based curriculum, Change Starts With Me. Resulting action: Residents conducted an audit of Lennox Park at the end of the curriculum training sessions.

Upon completion of the Change Starts With Me advocate training, Lennox residents are ready to participate in advocacy efforts, evaluate and speak about the built environment, and have a foundation of knowledge regarding health and nutrition. Two evaluations were conducted to  (1) determine the usefulness of the Change Starts With Me Curriculum in Lennox and (2) a Lennox park assessment. Summative evaluation procedure was used for both evaluations. With the results from the park audit, a landscape designer was able to create several renderings depicting health-promoting designs to the pathways and green space in Lennox Park.

Learning Areas:

Assessment of individual and community needs for health education
Communication and informatics
Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs
Program planning
Public health or related public policy
Public health or related research

Learning Objectives:
Assess and evaluate the current status of an unincorporated community’s nutrition and or physical activity environment. In addition, participants will be able to identify policy solutions and community strategies to advocate for improved healthy food access and physical activity environments.

Keyword(s): Advocacy, Community-Based Partnership & Collaboration

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: N/A

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have been working in the field of public health for 11 years as a community volunteer,public health graduate student and now as a masters prepared project manager. My work has focused on childhood obesity prevention through coordination of grassroots efforts to create healthy environments. In addition, I work with community members to improve access to healthy food, create awareness of healthy eating and improve walkability in neighborhoods
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.