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Steps to a Healthier San Antonio
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
- San Antonio Independent School District.
- Approximately 79 square miles (population about 316,000).
Demographics of Project Area
- 92 schools, 57,462 students (85% Hispanic), and 3,659 classroom teachers.
Target Population
- Residents, employers, employees, and schools within the San Antonio Independent School District and minority populations.
Lead Agency
- San Antonio Metropolitan Health District.
Proposed Activities
Media
- Create a culturally sensitive mass media campaign targeting obesity, diabetes and asthma while addressing the importance of physical activity, nutrition and the dangers of tobacco use by promoting smoking prevention and cessation groups. Various media outlets will be utilized to accomplish this task.
Policy
- Increase the number of businesses that adopt policies prohibiting smoking or limiting it to separately ventilated areas.
- Increase the number of businesses that have comprehensive worksite wellness programs.
School
- Increase the number of students with an asthma care plan.
- Establish Teens Against Tobacco groups in selected schools and neighborhoods.
- Offer continuing education opportunities for school nurses related to asthma management
- Offer asthma education to school nurses, students and health educators.
- Increase the number of students and school employees who engage in physical activity and understand the importance of daily physical activity.
- Increase the number of students and school employees who receive nutrition education information related to prevention of diabetes and obesity.
- Increase parent knowledge on asthma, diabetes, and overweight/obesity
Community
- Adapt the Freshstart Family secondhand smoke awareness intervention to be culturally sensitive to the target population.
- Partner with the San Antonio-Bexar County Metropolitan Planning Organization to facilitate the planning, construction, and repair of infrastructure allowing for increased levels of safe cycling and pedestrian activity in the target area.
- Offer diabetes self-management training to patients and families.
- Offer healthy cooking for diabetics at selected sites in target area
- Offer opportunities for target market individuals to get their BMI and weight measured monthly at YMCA sites
- Offer pedometers to select organizations to increase steps and measure amount of activity
- Offer asthma education to daycare centers and church organizations
Workplace
- Use point-of-decision displays in workplace cafeterias to encourage increased fruit and vegetable consumption.
- Offer pedometers to select organization to increase steps and measure amount of activity
Health Care
- Develop a standard of care with educational materials that assist health care professionals with decision making.
- Offer “Make Yours a Freshstart Family” program to mothers in clinics throughout target area. The program belongs to the American Cancer Society.
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
American Cancer Society, San Antonio Mayor’s Office, South Texas Asthma Coalition, Project Bienestar, American Lung Association, University Health System-Texas Diabetes Institute, Social and Health Research Center, Bexar County Community Health Collaborative, San Antonio Independent School District, San Antonio-Bexar County Metropolitan Planning Organization.
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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