New Orleans

	New Orleans

The Steps to a HealthierUS five-year cooperative agreement program aims to help Americans live longer, better, and healthier lives by 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, this U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) program allocated $13.6 million to fund 23 communities, including New Orleans, to implement community action plans to reduce health disparities and promote quality health care and prevention services. Project Area City of New Orleans (population 485,000). *Target Population for Steps* Interventions Low-income city residents, particularly African Americans. Proposed Intervention Media Implement a mass media campaign designed to promote "utilitarian" physical activity that is incorporated into daily life, increased consumption of fruits and vegetables, and reduced consumption of high-calorie snack foods. Policy and Environmental Changes Develop neighborhood walking and bicycling plans to build a more "walkable and bikeable" city. Collaborate with farmers’ markets, informal produce sellers, and community gardens to increase the neighborhood-level accessibility of fruits and vegetables. Revitalize city playgrounds. School-Based Educate school food service staff on purchasing and preparing healthier foods. Monitor foods served in school cafeterias for calorie density and content of fruits and vegetables. Implement a policy to eliminate the availability of junk foods in schools. Develop a plan to increase time for physical education and recess. Create a system to link asthmatic children with primary care providers. Provide asthma education for teachers, nurses, and parents of children with asthma. Implement smoke-free schools initiative. Community-Based Implement organized programs to promote physical activity and healthy eating. Identify persons with undiagnosed diabetes. Promote health through church-based nurses and lay health educators. Health Care Improve care of diabetes through a multiclinic diabetes care registry. Provide asthma education for primary care providers. 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 New Orleans Health Department, Mayor’s Office of Health Policy, Lousiana Public Health Institute, Tulane University, Louisiana State University, Daughters of Charity Services of New Orleans, Louisiana Council on Obesity Prevention and Management, EXCELth, Healthy Lifestyle Choices, Baptist Community Ministries, American Heart Association, American Lung Association, Black Women’s Health Project of Louisiana, and New Orleans Public Schools. *New Orleans Steps* Contacts** Kevin Stephens, MD, JD Director of Health New Orleans Health Department 1300 Perdido St New Orleans, LA 70112 (504) 565-6905 (504) 565-6916 fax kevinste@new-orleans.la.us Joseph Kimbrell, MSW Executive Director Louisiana Public Health Institute 1600 Canal St. New Orleans, LA 70112 (504) 539-9481 (504) 539-9483 fax jkimbrell@lphi.org Thomas Farley, MD, MPH Chair, Department of Community Health Sciences Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine 1440 Canal St. New Orleans, LA 70112 (504) 588-5391 (504) 584-3540 fax tfarley@tulane.edu Note: Steps communities have until May 2004 to finalize their community action plans. Proposed interventions may change accordingly. Return to Grantee List