to view the program - Society for Public Health Education

More intervention participants reported having rules for TV watching.
Perceived access to neighborhood recreational facilities decreased
for the intervention group. No significant changes were found for
time spent in moderate and vigorous PA. The statistically significant
changes in home PA environments indicate that the intervention
shows promise for changing the home environment to promote PA.
However, because the intervention was short and the sample size
was small, additional research is needed to determine whether such
changes will result in changes in behavior.
Working to Create Healthy Communities at the National and Local
Level Through Policy, Systems and Environmental Approaches
Jennie Hefelfinger, MS, National Association of Chronic Disease
Directors; Tina Amato, MS, LDN, RD, Allentown Health Bureau;
Erin Engelbrecht, BA, ACHIEVE Coordinator; Kirsten Frandsen,
BS, Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department
As communities nationwide are increasing their focus on policy, systems,
and environmental change strategies to address chronic diseases
locally, questions are being asked about how this can be done, and who
needs to be involved. The National Association of Chronic Disease
Directors (NACDD) is working with states and local communities
to answer those questions and promote policy change. NACDD has
successfully done this with communities of all sizes and levels of economic
status. This session will provide information about the Action
Communities for Health, Innovation, and EnVironmental ChangE
(ACHIEVE) national movement and its novel approaches towards
building healthy communities. Discussion will include background
and history of ACHIEVE, formulation of recommendations for local
and state partners that need to be involved to affect policy change, the
descriptions of Action Guides and other technical assistance tools,
and appropriate evaluation strategies for ACHIEVE and other policy,
systems, and environmental change strategies. Examples will be provided
from three communities with lessons learned and recommendations
for strategies to address chronic diseases and related risk factors.
Throughout the session, presenters will make recommendations and
share ideas related to using a unified approach between partners at the
local, state, and national levels to effectively address chronic disease.
Concurrent Session C3
Culture matters! Addressing Cancer Risk
at the community Level
Exploring Linguistic Isolation, Poverty, and Spatial Segregation as
Social Determinants of Cancer Risk in Galena Park, Texas
Demetrice Jordan, BS, Georgia State University Dept of Geoscience/
UT MD Anderson Cancer Center Cancer Prevention Research
Training Program; Denae King, PhD, University of Texas M.D.
Anderson Cancer Center; Dr. Lovell A. Jones, PhD, University of
Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
Linguistic isolation can have dire effects on vulnerable populations.
Many racial/ethnic minorities, often spatially segregated and suffering
higher poverty rates than non-minorities, find that language barriers
present a significant problem in their efforts to access healthcare. This
project seeks to visualize the spatial segregation, poverty status, and
linguistic isolation of Hispanic residents in Galena Park, Texas and the
implication these social factors have on cancer risk. The community
of Galena Park, Texas, a predominantly Hispanic/Latino community
located along the Houston Ship Channel, suffers from significant
exposure to industrial sources of environmental pollutants. This project
maps the extent of poverty, residential segregation, and linguistic isolation,
and identifies cancer risk from exposure to Benzene pollution
for area residents. Preliminary findings indicate that Galena Park has
a high poverty rate with more than 20% of residents living below the
federal poverty level. The Hispanic residents in Galena Park are residentially
segregated, and are at higher risk for cancer from prolonged
exposure to Benzene pollutants due to the community’s proximity to
petroleum refineries. The findings also suggest the Hispanic residents
of Galena Park are highly linguistically isolated, which compromises
their ability to access appropriate healthcare.
Not Everyone is Doing it: Perceptions and Prevalence of Peer
Smoking in U.S. - Mexico Border Community
Jose Guevara, B.S., University of Texas at El Paso, Hispanic Health
Disparities Research Center; Luisa Esquivel, University of Texas at
El Paso, Hispanic Health Disparities Research Center; Holly Mata,
MS, PhD, University of Texas at El Paso, Hispanic Health Disparities
Research Center; Joe Tomaka, PhD, Department of Public Health
Adolescents living along the U.S. – Mexico border are more likely
to smoke compared to their counterparts living elsewhere in Texas.
Specifically, in the Paso Del Norte Border Region, about 28% of El
Paso youth have had “any use” of cigarettes in the past month. In addition,
risk factors associated with the border region that contribute to
increased tobacco use are low-socioeconomic status, illicit drug availability,
increased alcohol and tobacco marketing, and low educational
attainment. Smoking rates are considerably higher among people who
receive a GED or drop out of high school as opposed to those who
receive a high school diploma. To address these disparities, researchers
are piloting a smoking prevention intervention among adolescents
who likely have a low educational trajectory based on neighborhood
demographics. This project is grounded in part in social norms theory,
which suggests that correcting normative misperceptions may reduce
unhealthy behavior. Adolescents who smoke tend to overestimate
the proportion of peers who are users like themselves. Perceptions of
peer smoking, smoking among friends, and smoking susceptibility are
SOPHE-NACDD 2011 Joint Academy and Midyear Scientific Meeting 29