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American Public Health Association
133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition
December 10-14, 2005
Philadelphia, PA
APHA 2005
 
4320.0: Tuesday, December 13, 2005 - 5:30 PM

Abstract #109938

Reducing Asthma and Obesity in Latino Public Schools: Developmental Evaluation of Participatory Partnership Models for Community Organizing

Guillermo Gomez1, Idida Perez2, and Rochelle Davis1. (1) Illinois Healthy Schools Campaign, 205 W. Monroe St, 4th floor, Chicago, IL 60606, 312-419-1810, ggomez@healthyschoolscampaign.org, (2) West Town Leadership United, 1116 North Kedzie, Chicago, IL 60651

Objective: Schools serving minority and low-income students suffer disproportionately from environmental hazards,include poor indoor air quality and nutritionally poor food that contribute to high incidence of asthma episodes and a high prevalence rate of obesity in children. The project has four aims: 1) Understand the impact of the school environment, and the impact of school policies, on asthma and obesity; 2) Develop a common language between "professionals" and "community members/parents" to activate school interventions; 3) Evaluate two different models of organizing in a school-based settings; one using popular education methods, the other a Family Focused Leadership and Organizing Model; 4) Create dialogue between schools, community stakeholders, and health providers, facilitating the reduction of health disparities. Methods. The project is guided by a participatory research framework calling for the active involvement of people (parents, community leaders) in a collective assessment trained to assess the environmental realities in order to transform it. In the first phase involved a process to strengthen their skills and capacities to transform schools and communities. A participatory development planning process identified health disparities leading to the development of school action plan interventions. Collaborators facilitated capacity-building by providing training and technical assistance. Findings: Partners identified school environmental health concerns with parents through discussions and audits. They then guided the project's direction through their involvement in data collection, intervention development, and evaluation. Through an active role in methods and process, the communities are gaining the leadership, tools and resources to effectively address environmental factors affecting youth.

Learning Objectives:

Keywords: Latino Health, Environmental Justice

Related Web page: www.healthyschoolscampaign.org/

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.

Community-based Models for Promoting Latino Health

The 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition (December 10-14, 2005) of APHA