Steps to a Healthier Austin

	Steps to a Healthier Austin
2004
The Steps to a HealthierUS 5-year cooperative agreement program aims to help Americans live longer, better, and healthier lives by reducing the burden of diabetes, overweight, obesity, and asthma and addressing three related risk factors: physical inactivity, poor nutrition, and tobacco use. For FY 2003, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) allocated $13.6 million to fund 24 communities, including Austin, Texas; in FY 2004, HHS allocated $35.8 million to increase funding to the existing 24 communities and to fund an additional 16, for a total of 40 communities. Project Area Contiguous geographic area with 20 zip codes in Austin, Texas (population 460,041); 167,000 households. 65 elementary schools, 14 middle schools, 13 high schools (66,597 students). Eleven of the city's 12 Federally Qualified Health Centers. Target Population Elementary, middle, and high school students; parents; teachers; school administrators; and school boards. Low-income Latino, African American, and White children and adults. Employers and employees in worksites. Faith-based organizations and their congregations. Clients of City of Austin neighborhood and recreational centers. Patients in the City of Austin community health center system. Business and political leaders within the community. Steps Activities Media Develop culturally and linguistically appropriate messages on obesity, diabetes, and asthma prevention and on nutrition, physical activity, and tobacco use prevention and cessation. Increase awareness of perceived risks, prevention methods, and available resources through social marketing messages that integrate health education and promotion models (e.g., the Trans-Theoretical Theory, Health Belief Model, and Social Learning Theory). Create awareness of chronic diseases and risk factors and promote Steps to a Healthier Austin through television and radio news spots and print media. Policy Partner with the Tobacco Free Austin Coalition to implement tobacco control and prevention education programs to create stronger, enforceable, smoke-free ordinances. Work with the American Cancer Society (ACS) to implement policies to reduce and prevent suffering from tobacco-related illness and reduce health disparities among minority and medically underserved communities. Remove foods with low nutritional value from school campuses. Work with school boards to advocate for and support daily physical education classes. School Partner with the Austin Independent School District (AISD) to conduct a needs assessment and gap analysis to implement a staff wellness program. Implement daily physical education classes (currently these occur only three times per week) in several pilot schools. Implement the Team Nutrition program in two high schools, two middle schools, and eight elementary schools in the intervention area. Expand the existing student health services model, in which school nurses perform case management, to include family risk factor identification and to focus on students at risk of diabetes. Identify and pilot culturally and linguistically appropriate cooking classes by expanding partnerships with the Sustainable Foods Center and its Cocina Alegre program. Partner with ACS and AISD to garner resources for the Towards No Tobacco program for all middle schools. Expand the reach of the American Diabetes Association's (ADA) School Walk for Diabetes program, an educational fundraising event that teaches children and adults the benefits of exercise and healthy eating while helping those in the community affected by diabetes. Community Promote and expand local resources and programs, including the Walk Texas Austin Chapter walking groups, the Sustainable Food Center, ACS tobacco education classes and quit line, American Heart Association heart health education classes, and American Lung Association asthma education programs. Expand the reach of ADA community-based programs, such as the Diabetes Sunday African American/Hispanic Program, a targeted approach to increasing awareness of the seriousness of diabetes, the importance of early detection and treatment, and the need to make healthy lifestyle choices; coordinate events to raise awareness about the seriousness of diabetes and its risk factors, such as the Diabetes Summit of Central Texas. Work with Austin's Parks and Recreation Department to facilitate the planning and construction of walking and hiking trails in the intervention area and promote the use of existing city resources, such as recreational centers and parks, to increase physical activity. Establish a new senior fitness program at the Conley-Guerrero Senior Activity Center and a new fitness program at the Rosewood Recreation Center. Evaluate effectiveness and expand the program to three additional senior centers in the next 3 years. Review and coordinate program activities at the city's 18 recreation centers. Work with the community-based program called OriGENal Voice to develop strategies designed to delay and prevent tobacco-use initiation among middle school girls. Create point-of-decision nutrition prompts for intervention area stores and restaurants. Workplace Promote healthy nutritional choices, physical activity, tobacco prevention, and tobacco cessation to Austin city and school district employees through ACS's Web site. Recruit five intervention-area employers to participate in Steps to a Healthier Austin wellness programs. Create point-of-decision prompts in worksites to promote walking and stair use. Health Care Partner with ACS to teach health care providers and staff about tobacco-use cessation and prevention education that targets low-income pregnant women and parents of young children who are patients of Community Health Centers and WIC centers. Implement reminder systems that prompt providers to assess use. Organize key community partners to help develop disease management protocols, implement evidence-based guidelines, and share promising practice models. A diabetes disease management model will be implemented at the Rosewood-Zaragosa Community Health Center in the first year. A similar model will be developed for asthma in the next 2 years. These models will later be expanded to include the entire city health center network. Evaluation HHS will provide training and technical assistance to help each Steps community develop measurable program objectives and specific indicators of progress and use relevant data to support ongoing program improvement. HHS will also conduct a national evaluation of the entire program. Existing data sources, such as the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System and the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System, will be used to identify and measure program outcomes and assess progress toward program goals. Community Partners Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce, Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Capital Area African American Chamber of Commerce, Austin Independent School District, University of Texas School of Nursing, Huston Tillotson College, Health Connection, Austin Travis County Mental Health and Mental Retardation, Del Valle Independent School District, Austin Inter-Faith Alliance, American Cancer Society, American Heart Association, American Lung Association, American Diabetes Association, Sustainable Food Center–Austin Community Gardens, Texas Cooperative Extension Service, RunTex, Austin Parks and Recreation-Natural Resources Division, YMCA, Trust For A Smokefree Texas, Austin Housing Authority, Health Ministry Team Churches, Capital Metro, El Buen Samaritano, Trans Texas Alliance, and Texas Department of Health. Austin Steps Contact Adolfo Valadez, M.D., M.P.H. Medical Director Austin/Travis County Health and Human Services Department RBJ Building 15 Waller Street 4th Floor, Suite 410 Austin, TX 78702 (512) 972-5408 (512) 972-6377 fax Adolfo.Valadez@ci.austin.tx.us Return to Community Fact Sheets