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Boston Steps
The Steps Program funds states, cities, and tribal entities to implement community-based chronic disease prevention efforts that are focused on reducing the burden of obesity, diabetes, and asthma and addressing three related risk factors: physical inactivity, poor nutrition, and tobacco use.
Project Area
- Eight contiguous Boston neighborhoods: Chinatown, Dorchester, Hyde Park, Jamaica Plain, Mattapan, Roxbury, South Boston, and South End (total population 341,000).
Target Population for Steps Interventions
- All residents of project area, with particular focus on racial and ethnic minorities.
Steps Activities
Media
- Implement marketing campaigns related to 1) broad Boston Steps messages that encourage health behavior change and 2) specific interventions, such as NeighborWalk and Healthy Restaurants campaigns.
Policy
- Identify and address environmental and institutional factors in the community, schools, and workplace that contribute to disease burden and disparities.
School-Based
- Support implementation of new policy that requires healthier beverages and snacks in Boston Public Schools.
- Implement Eat Well and Keep Moving and Planet Health curriculum in at least 25 schools.
- Provide mini-grants to schools to support assessment and improvement using School Health Index and environmental assessment tools.
- Support annual inspection and remediation system for all Boston Public Schools related to environmental triggers for asthma.
- Develop improved clinical management systems in collaboration with school nurses.
Community-Based
- Support 50 weekly walking groups sponsored through community-based organizations.
- Create and sustain a network of neighborhood wellness activities.
- Improve the walkability of neighborhoods in collaboration with community groups and other city agencies.
- Implement a campaign in collaboration with neighborhood ethnic restaurants to support healthier dining out options.
Workplace
- Work with employers, employees, and other key stakeholders to improve opportunities for physical activity, healthy eating, health screenings, and a healthier physical environment in the workplace.
- Promote stairwell point-of-decision awareness campaigns to increase stair usage.
Health Care
- Implement BMI assessment and tobacco screening at sixteen community health centers.
- Support further implementation of the chronic care model for diabetes, obesity, and asthma at six community health centers.
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 also will conduct a national evaluation of the overall 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 Consortium
Boston Public Health Commission, Boston Public Schools, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Harvard Pilgrim HealthCare Foundation, Harvard University Prevention Research Center, WalkBoston, The Food Project, Northeastern University Center for the Study of Sports in Society, Massachusetts Public Health Association, Archdiocese of Boston Schools, Massachusetts Department of Public Health,
Boston Transportation Department, Boston Parks Department, Boston Inspectional Services Department, Boston Office of Neighborhood Services, Boston Centers for Youth and Family, five hospitals, 16 community health centers, Action for Boston Community Development, Boston Black Women’s Health Institute, Boston Urban Asthma Coalition, Boston Asthma Initiative, MassCOSH, 5 faith-based
organizations.
Page last reviewed: May 2, 2008
Page last modified: August 13, 2007
Content source: Division of Adult and
Community Health, National
Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion
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