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Conference Abstractsa diverse group of stakeholders. Stakeholders include: theMerck Childhood Asthma Network, health care professionalsand leadership at three federally qualified health centers, andthe Centers for Minority Health and Health Disparities Researchand Education at Xavier University (behavioral scientists,asthma educators, clinical pharmacist, epidemiologist, andcommunity health workers). A multi-component healthsystems intervention addressing provider training, theintegration of asthma educators into clinic workflow, and theuse of clinical guidelines to influence changes in electronicmedical records will be discussed. Results: This presentationwill discuss the process used to select implementation(process) and clinical measures used to evaluate (bothqualitatively and quantitatively) the effectiveness HEAL,Phase II. The importance of implementation evaluationwhich examines the role of organizational history andcapacity; building trust between collaborators, and leadershipendowment and participation will be discussed. Thepresenter will also provide preliminary data on the followingmeasures: symptom days, school days missed, emergencyroom use, medication adherence, asthma goal setting, andproper use of asthma device technique. Conclusion andImplications for Practice: The presenter will concludethis presentation with suggestions and recommendationson how data collected around these implementation andclinical measures can inform improvements in the use ofhealth systems interventions targeting pediatric asthma.Increasing Community Impact throughPolicy and Environmental Change inSuburban Cook County (SCC), IllinoisRachael Dombrowski, MPH, PHIMC/Suburban Cook CountyCommunities Putting Prevention to Work; Christina Welter, MPH,DrPH, Cook County Department of Public Health; Gina MassudaBarnett, MPH, Cook County Department of Public HealthThe Cook County Department of Public Health (CCDPH) whichserves a geopolitically complex jurisdiction, comprised ofnearly 2.3 million people residing in 125 communities, hastraditionally addressed increasing rates of chronic diseasethrough service oriented work. A demographic shift fromurban centers to suburban communities among impoverishedand minority populations coupled with decreased resourcesinitiated an agency shift from traditional public healthtowards policy and environmental change strategies in orderto ensure greatest impact. In March 2010, a CommunitiesPutting Prevention to Work (CPPW) grant administered bythe Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was awardedto CCDPH and the Public Health Institute of MetropolitanChicago. This expansive obesity prevention initiativeprovided CCDPH the fiscal and human resources required toexpand a policy and environmental change agenda. Giventhe complexities of working within a large, multi-facetedjurisdiction – with no centralized government entities -strategic organization of coalition partners, regionalizedoutreach and community engagement was needed toensure success of the CPPW initiative. CPPW enabled CCDPHto undertake an organization of the structures and systemsnecessary so that policy and environmental change canbecome a reality in SCC. This session will provide a snapshotof the organization of these systems and strategies fromforming our leadership team, regionalizing staff and usingincident command to implement our work. In addition,this session will describe how federal initiatives like CPPWcan enable local health department capacity buildingand assist financially strapped public health agencies indelivering strategies that display the greatest impact.Community Capacity Determinants forClimate Change Adaptation: An AlaskanCase Study and Implications for PracticeTenaya Sunbury, PhD, Institute for Circumpolar Health Studies,University of Alaska, Anchorage; David Driscoll, PhD, MPH, Institutefor Circumpolar Health Studies, University of Alaska, AnchorageBackground: Communities must be prepared to assess, andadapt to, the health risks associated with climate change.Although identifying community vulnerabilities (or deficits)is important for risk assessment, identifying communitycapacities (or assets) will be critical for successful andsustainable adaptation and mitigation strategies. We arguethat focusing on community-level impacts and adaptivecapabilities is the most efficient strategy to promoteindividual-level adaptations to climate variability. ConceptualModel: We present a conceptual model that integrates thedimensions of community capacity (for example, resources,leadership, and skills) (Goodman, et al., 1998) and socialdeterminants of health (for example, structural economicand political systems, cultural/ideologies) to examinerelevant and modifiable community characteristics forclimate change adaptation. Community capacity has beendescribed as both characteristics of a community and asa process by which capacity is created and maintained(Goodman, et al., 1998). The conceptual model describes therelationships among determinants of community capacityand argues how adapting to the health risks associated withclimate change requires knowledge of the social factorsthat influence community capacity. Implications forPractice: Our findings are consistent with similar studies innorthern Canadian communities that found impacts fromclimate change were a function of fundamental culturaland socio-economic changes. Strategies that public healthprofessionals can use to improve community capacity involve1) working with communities to identify health outcomesthat are community priorities, 2) integrating local/traditionalenvironmental knowledge with environmental public health,3) promoting awareness of climate change impacts onhuman health and advocating for community involvementin policies around resource management and infrastructure,4) identifying and assisting in funding opportunities tofacilitate adaptation for communities with limited economicresources, 5) increasing research efforts to identify shortand long term risk factors and adaptive response options.28SOPHE 62nd Annual Meeting