Compared to white Americans, African Americans live sicker and die younger. Although the magnitudes of racial socioeconomic status (SES) disparities in morbidity and mortality are often largest among adults, they often begin in childhood. In fact, past research reveals that, [racial disparities in U.S. child disease prevalene rates have been observed for obesity, asthma, diabetes, preterm birth, infant death, mental health, birth defects, physical abuse, injury, low birth weight, all-cause mortality, and disabilit. Accordingly, efforts to eliminate race and SES disparities in health among adults should begin with efforts to prevent and intervene in health disparities among children. America's most prevalent chronic pediatric health condition is asthma. Asthma is also a significant source of race and SES disparities in health, and a correlate, cause and/or consequence of disparities in children's psychosocial stress exposures, academic outcomes, physical living conditions, and other structural, environmental and social factors. The proposed Healthy Living, Healthy Learning, Healthy Lives (HL3) Project equitably engages community and academic partners in an effort to investigate, ameliorate and ultimately eliminate, disparities in children's health, wih a particular focus on asthma, its correlates, consequences and co-morbidities.
The Specific Aims of the project are as follows: 1) to strengthen and expand the health focus of an existing community-based participatory research (CBPR) partnership. 2) To use the HL3 CBPR partnership to plan and implement a multi-level (individual, family, school, neighborhood, policy) community assessment. 3) To use the results of the community assessment (Aim 2) to plan a multi-level pilot CBPR intervention. 4) To use the intervention plan (Aim 3) to implement a multi-level pilot CBPR intervention study. 5) To evaluate the process and outcomes of the HL3 Project's three-year intervention planning process.
To strengthen and expand an existing community-based participatory research (CBPR) partnership, and to use this partnership to refine the social determinants of health conceptual framework and design, implement and evaluate a multi-level (individual, family, school, neighborhood, policy) community assessment and intervention plan with an initial focus on asthma, its correlates, consequences and co-morbidities.
