Block by Block North Lawndale Diabetes Community Action Program is again in the news.
Recently a student from Northwestern University accompanied Health Educators/Diabetes Block Captains as they conducted surveys on behalf of the Block by block North Lawndale Diabetes Community Action Program. Click here to view the video.
The Chicago Crusader reports on recent activity of North Lawndale Diabetes Block Captains from Sinai Urban Health Insititue. Click here to read the article.
The Sinai Urban Health Institute has been selected to receive the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) 2010 National Environmental Leadership Award in Asthma Management for their exemplary efforts to deliver high-quality asthma care that includes environmental controls.
"It is an honor to be recognized for a decade of work on eliminating asthma disparities in one of the county's most vulnerable communities. Sinai Urban Health Institute’s work in this area exemplifies our commitment, and that of our parent organization, Sinai Health System, to serving as a national model for the delivery of urban health care," said Helen Margellos-Anast, Senior Epidemiologist and Program Director.
This award recognizes stellar asthma management programs that are using innovative approaches to improve patient health and quality of life. Sinai Urban Health Institute is one of only five programs to receive this prestigious award this year. Award winners are recognized for demonstrating that comprehensive asthma care with a strong environmental component can dramatically improve health outcomes for people with asthma.
Whereas 13% of children nationally might experience pediatric asthma, in the communities on the west side of Chicago, one in four children (25%) suffer from asthma as revealed by the Sinai Improving Community Health Survey (www.suhichicago.org).
“EPA is recognizing Sinai Urban Health Institutefor their outstanding efforts to reduce the burden of asthma for families in their communities,” said Mike Flynn, Director of EPA’s Office of Radiation and Indoor Air. “This program is achieving positive environmental and health outcomes, and EPA applauds their innovation and dedication to controlling asthma.”
EPA will present the award to the Sinai Urban Health Instituteat the Communities in Action National Asthma Forum in Washington, D.C., on June 17, 2010.
Since 2000 the Sinai Urban Health Institute has been to try to reduce the burden of asthma on the communities which the Sinai Health System serves. In September 2008,with funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Sinai Urban Health Institute initiated its latest and most comprehensive initiative: Healthy Home, Healthy Child: The Westside Children’s Asthma Partnership (HHHC). HHHC focuses exclusively on children with poorly controlled asthma living on the Westside of Chicago. At the heart of the HHHC model is a Community Health Worker (CHW), who makes six home visits over the course of a year with the goal of teaching the child and his/her family how to better manage asthma.The home visits focus on improving asthma management by educating caregivers and children to better manage asthma medically, while also addressing the disproportionate presence of asthma triggers in the home environment. CHEs make referrals to Housing Advocates from the Metropolitan Tenants Organization, pro bono attorneys from Health & Disability Advocates, and social workers from the Sinai Community Institute for assistance in addressing issues beyond the CHW’s expertise. The program objective is to significantly impact asthma-related measures of morbidity, urgent health resource utilization and quality of life. We do not know how to prevent children from acquiring asthma, but we do know how to help them control their disease so that they can live full and productive lives. It is hoped the HHHC will help children control their asthma so that it does not control them, and so that all the possibilities of life will be within their reach.
For more information about EPA’s National Environmental Leadership Award in Asthma Management, visit http://www.epa.gov/asthma.
Dr. Joseph F. West, Director of the Sinai Urban Health Institute’s “North Lawndale Diabetes Community Action Project”, has just published his first book, “Trod the Stony Road – A Young Man’s Journey From the Mississippi to the Charles.” The book is in the form of a memoir of Dr. West’s life growing up as a child of color in East St. Louis and in Chicago’s North Lawndale community. Chapters feature many strong African American men and women, friends and mentors who encouraged and enabled Dr. West to eventually graduate from Harvard University with a Doctor of Science degree. Dr. West hopes to inspire boys and young men as they face the struggles of life in an urban setting. The book is available on Amazon. Com.
Sinai Urban Health Institute (SUHI) was awarded a highly-competitive major grant by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to undertake the Block by Block North Lawndale Diabetes Community Action Program. SUHI’s proposal was ranked in the top 3% of requests received by NIH and will provide $1 million over two years.
North Lawndale has one of the highest rates of diabetes in the City of Chicago. It is estimated that the direct medical care costs per person per year with diabetes is 2.3 times higher than for the person without diabetes. The foundational bases for the Block by Block North Lawndale Diabetes Community Action Program are:
Block by Block North Lawndale Diabetes Community Action Program has three (3) target audiences:
The Block by Block North Lawndale Diabetes Community Action Program seeks to support residents in changing the culture within North Lawndale to make diabetes (and health in general) a neighborhood priority and to impact the environment to support healthier lifestyles. Activities include an educational campaign, community engagement, and individual self-management support by Diabetes Block Captains to ultimately improve rates of diabetes self-management behaviors. Subsequently, through this multi-level community intervention, it is hoped that early detection of diabetes in North Lawndale will increase and people will live better and healthier lives.
Diabetes Block Captains will conduct 2,500 neighborhood household surveys to identify residents within North Lawndale who actually have or are at risk of developing Type 2 Diabetes. (Eligible persons who complete the survey will be mailed a $15 gift card.) Those residents with Type 2 Diabetes will be assigned a Diabetes Block Captain who will make 4 home visits over 12-18 months, during which they will work with individuals to develop action plans focused on small, consistent, lifestyle changes to improve self-management of the disease.
Poor self-management behaviors often lead to increased numbers of diabetes-related hospitalizations and emergency room visits. Those persons who have been diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes will be educated (or re-educated) around the risks for short-term and long-term consequences of not managing the disease (e.g., amputations, dialysis, nerve damage, loss of vision, erectile dysfunction) and be encouraged to eat better, become more physically-active, take their medications, follow doctor’s orders, undergo regular testing, and comply with foot care routines.
The major risk factors for developing Type 2 Diabetes include: having family members with the disease, being obese/overweight, not being physically active, having unhealthy eating habits, and being over age 45. Those North Lawndale residents with risk factors will be encouraged to participate in community-wide events related to the Block by Block North Lawndale Diabetes Community Action Program campaign messages that are intended to reduce their chances of developing the disease.
A particular emphasis for the community-at-large is the list of campaign messages and making small-but-consistent lifestyle changes to support those in their circle of influence who have or at risk of developing Type 2 Diabetes.
It is intended that formal and informal community partners will support North Lawndale residents and the Block by Block North Lawndale Diabetes Community Action Program by offering cooking classes and diabetes-friendly menus, hosting events, workshops, and meetings.
Block by Block North Lawndale Diabetes Community Action Program seeks to maximize attendance and participation in North Lawndale resources that are often underutilized, such as fitness classes and community gardens.
Corporate health partners and local pharmacies to provide low-cost or free testing supplies and medications for Block by Block North Lawndale Diabetes Community Action Program participants
Local restaurants are willing to modify certain menu items to make them diabetes-friendly, they contact being sought to provide healthy menus Churches and nonprofits in North Lawndale who would like to host a workshop, presentation, or healthy lifestyle event for their clientele Block clubs who want to organize healthy activities for their block such as walking school buses, community park clean-up, and community garden planting
Joseph West, Sc.D., Program Manager
773-257-2727
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Donna V. Werner, Program Coordinator
773-257-6049
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Block by Block North Lawndale Diabetes Community Action Program Hotline
773-257-6042
A study conducted by Jennifer Orsi, Helen Margellos-Anast, and Dr. Steven Whitman of the Sinai Urban Health Institute regarding Black:White health disparities in Chicago and the United States received front page news coverage.
Below are links to some of the media reports about the study and its findings:
Chicago Tribune: http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/chi-chicago_health_gapdec18,0,628023.story
Chicago Sun Times: http://www.suntimes.com/lifestyles/health/1946391,black-health-gap-121809.article
WBEZ News-Chicago Public Radio: http://www.chicagopublicradio.org/Content.aspx?audioID=38920
Austin Weekly News: http://www.austinweeklynews.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=2564&TM=37674.07
To read more about the study and its findings, currently published online in the American Journal of Public Health, click here.
Sodexo and Modern Healthcare have awarded Sinai Urban Health Institute honorable mention for the CARES Spirit Award. CARES, which stands for compassion, accountability, respect, enthusiasm, and service, is awarded to a team or group whose collective actions and behaviors personify CARES attributes. To view the full article, click here.
Dr. Steve Whitman, Director of Sinai Urban Health Institute, was one of six panelists asked to speak at a healthcare reform round table discussion hosted by Vice President Biden, Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius, and National Health IT Coordinator, Dr. David Blumenthal and held at the Sinai Community Institute on Thursday, August 20th, 2009. To learn more about the roundtable discussion, click here. To read a transcript of Dr. Whitman’s comments, click here.
Sinai's Healthy Home, Healthy Child pediatric asthma program was recently featured by many media outlets. Below are links to many of those features.
Asthma Program Targets Landlords, aired 5/18/09 on WBEZ radio. Available online: http://www.wbez.org/Content.aspx?audioID=34235
Chicago program addresses rising asthma rates wtih preventive measures: Health educators visit homes to help families eliminate triggers, Chicago Tribune, 5/15/09. Available online: http://archives.chicagotribune.com/2009/may/15/health/chi-asthma-city-zone-15-may15
Asthma Triggers in Lawndale Home Fixed in 1 Week: Landlord Makes Good on Promise to Fix Health Hazards, aired Chicago CBS-2 on 5/5/09 and 5/13/09. Available online: http://cbs2chicago.com/health/asthma.triggers.lawndale.2.1009186.html
Program helps parents minimize asthma triggers, Chicago Defender, 6/17/09. Available online: http://www.chicagodefender.com/article-5085-program-helps-parent-minimize-asthma-triggers.html
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