Mobilizing Community Support and Resource for Change

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Submission Date: December 2008

State/Territory Submitted on the Behalf of: New Mexico

States/Territories Involved: New Mexico

Domain Addressed:

Environmental Approaches

Public Health Issue:

  • Physical activity and healthier food choices are essential to preventing chronic diseases.
  • Active community groups can facilitate change in local environment and local policies that increases opportunities for physical activity and healthy food choices, an effective way to improve health and reduce chronic disease.

Program Action:

  • The Action Communities for Health, Innovation and Environmental Change initiative, or ACHIEVE, applies a community model using health departments & YMCAs as trusted conveners and community ‘coaches.’ The National Association of Chronic Disease Directors and YMCA of the USA provide ACHIEVE grants and technical assistance with funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
  • The Albuquerque, New Mexico ACHIEVE initiative gathered a large group of community stakeholders to form a Community Health Action Response Team that created workgroups related to community food assessment, walking advocacy, kids, gardening and food policy and to implement the Prevention Institute’s Action Guide on facilitating development of community trails and promoting their use to increase physical activity.

Impact/Accomplishments:

  • The initiative is leveraging additional resources for implementation, for example:
    • -$6000 from the New Mexico Department of Transportation for pedestrian safety projects that complement ACHIEVE physical activity efforts
    • In-kind resources to complete a community food assessment from the University of New Mexico, St. Joseph Community Health and student service learning projects.
  • Albuquerque ACHIEVE is reducing existing barriers to physical activity by:
    • Developing a model for adapting private space for active public use through collaboration and a signed memorandum of understanding with a faith-based organization that engages local youth in creating fun places for families to spend more time outside
    • Mobilizing residents to develop walking trails by conducting ‘walkability’ workshops
    • Generating Bernalillo County government interest in specific ‘shovel-ready’ pedestrian projects such as crosswalks.

Program Areas:

Healthy Communities (general)

State Contact Information:

NM
Janet Page-Reeves
University of New Mexico Prevention Research Center
505-306-3041
jpanthro@aol.com

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