Steps to a HealthierUS logo Steps for a Healthier Pinellas

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 Pinellas County, Florida, to implement community action plans to reduce health disparities and promote quality health care and prevention services.

Project Area

Four contiguous cities in Pinellas County, Florida: St. Petersburg, Pinellas Park, Gulfport, Kenneth City (total population 310,817). Area contains 56 schools (57,900 students).

Target Population for Steps Interventions

Steps activities will focus on the entire population residing in the intervention area, but specific activities will target minority and school populations.

Proposed Interventions

Implement evidence-based, culturally inclusive intervention strategies to include a comprehensive media campaign, community and provider education programs, environmental and policy interventions, and school-based programs.

Media

  • Implement a comprehensive, 5-year, multicomponent community campaign to promote key health messages related to Steps behaviors and conditions. The campaign will include intensive health messages through multiple media (e.g., television, radio, and Internet). Counter-marketing strategies, community events, and incentive/disincentive strategies will be featured.

    • Policy

  • Federally Qualified Health Clinics (FQHC) will establish a local policy to calculate body mass index for clients as a standard component of assessing vital signs.
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    School-Based

  • Expand the existing successful Salad Bar pilot project to increase the variety and consumption of fruits and vegetables by increasing salad bars and serving line options in Steps schools.
  • Include similar peer influence and awareness techniques for nutrition and physical activity into the existing tobacco prevention program Students Working Against Tobacco, (SWAT).

    • Community-Based

  • Implement nutrition education, exercise, smoking cessation, weight management, and diabetes self-management classes at community sites such as neighborhood centers, churches, work sites, FQHCs, after-school programs, and satellite clinics. Special strategies will include mini-grants to faith-based groups for health ministry.
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    Workplace

  • Promote and expand employee physical activity programs among partner agencies to include walking programs using pedometers, stairwell point-of-decision prompts, and staff training on healthy behaviors.
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    Health Care

  • Offer a variety of educational programs through grand rounds, seminars, and resident lectures on standard of care guidelines and availability of resources on where to refer smokers and patients with asthma, obesity, and diabetes.

    • 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

    Pinellas County Health Department; Board of County Commissioners; mayors of St. Petersburg, Pinellas Park, Gulfport and Kenneth City; Pinellas County Schools; All Children’s Hospital, Inc.; Bayfront Medical Center, Inc.; YMCA; Pinellas Cooperative Extension Center; Community Health Centers, Inc. (FQHC); American Lung Association; Diabetes Intervention Prevention Program; Tobacco-Free Coalition; Pediatric Asthma Resource Action Team; Pinellas African Americans Targeted Reduction in Infant Mortality using a Community Intervention Approach (PATRICIA); Closing the Gap; Healthy Start Coalition; African American Coalition; and Environmental Health Coalition.

    Pinellas County Steps contact
    Claude Dharamraj, MD, MPH, FAAP
    Assistant Director
    Pinellas County Health Department
    PO Box 13549
    St. Petersburg, FL 33733
    (727) 824-6921
    (727) 820-4275 fax
    Claude_dharamraj@doh.state.fl.us
    www.Pinellaswellness.com

    Note: Steps communities have until May 2004 to finalize their community action plans. Proposed interventions may change accordingly.

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