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

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.