Steps to a Healthier Santa Clara

	Steps to a Healthier Santa Clara County
2004
The Steps to a HealthierUS 5-year cooperative agreement program funds States, cities, and tribal entities to implement chronic disease prevention efforts focused on 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; in FY 2004, HHS allocated $35.8 million to increase funding to the existing 24 communities and to fund an additional 16, including Santa Clara County, California, for a total of 40 communities. Amount of Award $1 million. Project Area Santa Clara County (population 360,609). Demographics of Project Area The intervention area covers 92,232 households. 53% of the residents are Hispanic and 23% are Latino. The intervention area has 66 schools in five districts. Target Population African American, Vietnamese, and Latino families. Lead Agency Santa Clara County Public Health Department. Proposed Activities Media Partner with The Diabetes Society to implement a community saturation campaign that communicates the connections between healthy eating, physical activity, overweight and obesity, and diabetes. Policy Assist organizations in developing policies related to healthy food items at events. School Targeted schools will limit access to vending machines to after the lunch period. Implement the Open Airways and Power Breathing curricula in classrooms. Community Begin the Take Charge of Your Health curriculum at a minimum of six faith-based organizations. Partner with the YMCA to provide education to homeless youth related to tobacco use, asthma prevention, and other heath issues through peer education. Workplace Provide technical assistance to employers for the development of workplaces that create healthy environments. Partner to make referrals for chronic disease management and prevention available at worksites. Health Care With all health care providers serving Steps residents, promote the practice of collecting body mass index data at clinic visits. 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 YMCA, Diabetes Society, American Lung Association, Catholic Charities, a community clinic consortium, and the five school districts. Santa Clara Steps Contact Dolores Alvarado (408) 423-0706 dolores.alvarado@hhs.co.scl.ca.us Return to Community Fact Sheets