February 25, 2005

Santa Clara County receives 1 of 10 federal grants for healthier U.S.

By SCC Supervisor Pete McHugh
Special to the Times

On Feb. 8, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors accepted a federal grant to implement the “STEPS to a Healthier US” program. The grant covers five years, with an anticipated amount of $1 million annually. The U.S.
government awarded Santa Clara County with one of only 10 grants nationally.

The STEPS program promotes healthier nutrition and physical activity as a way to reduce certain debilitating diseases, primarily diabetes and asthma. Santa Clara County’s Public Health Department will lead a community initiative that advances the national goal of helping individuals and families adopt a healthier lifestyle. The grant targets communities where health disparities exist and a large portion of the population is uninsured and at or below the poverty level.

Through the STEPS initiative, the county will work in partnership with local schools and community-based organizations (CBOs) to develop and implement a community action plan. The plan will focus physical inactivity, poor nutrition and tobacco usage as the three primary risk factors that lead to chronic disease.

The plan’s major components will include:

- Message information and dissemination

- Education and technical assistance

- Access to services and resources

- Organizational practices and policy development.

The STEPS program targets the downtown San Jose area and the East Valley, including unincorporated county pockets. A total of 448,287 residents making up 122,598 households live in the STEPS service area.

Residents in these areas are at increased risk for chronic disease because a disproportionate number of them do not have health insurance and they live at or below the poverty level. The children in these areas attend 66 public schools in five different school districts.

According to the 2000 Census, this area has the following ethnic breakdown: Hispanic (45.5 percent), Asian (26.2 percent), Caucasian (21.3 percent), African American (3.4 percent) and Multiracial/other (3.6 percent).

The county’s community partners for implementation of the STEPS program include participation of five school districts, two universities and numerous community-based organizations. The medical community is represented by participation from a community clinic consortium, Kaiser and the County of Santa Clara’s Health and Hospital System.

Finally, a local foundation and the city of San Jose will also partner in the STEPS program. The efforts of the various community partners will be twofold.

Each school district will receive $90,000 to educate students and parents on the importance of physical activity and healthy eating, as well as the dangers of being overweight or obese. Some CBOs will work with the faith communities to communicate these same messages.

Other CBOs will work with the business community and neighborhood community centers to address workplace policy development regarding physical activity and eating practices. All community partners will participate in a “community saturation” campaign to provide the most information possible across each of the STEPS areas.

County staff, school districts, and the CBOs will all make efforts to address the unique cultural and linguistic needs of the target Santa Clara County population as STEPS strategies are developed and implemented.

As noted in the State of the County address this year, one of the primary goals of Chairperson Kniss is to champion a community that demonstrates safety, health and economic sustainability. I wholeheartedly agree and believe that with all of these forces coming together, Santa Clara County is leading the way in the most important area, our residents’ health.