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Effort Helps Coloradans Lead Healthier Lives
 Through a just-completed five-year Trust initiative, Colorado Healthy People 2010, 42 grantees across the state exhibited resourcefulness and creativity in their efforts to expand and sustain health promotion programs, and to decrease health disparities. Programs ranged from creating friendly, rival-community dog-walking competitions to encourage physical activity, to providing dental care to low-income children in rural schools.
The Colorado Trust committed $8.9 million to the initiative and based it on the national Healthy People 2010 objectives developed by the U.S. Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. For the statewide initiative, Colorado was divided into five regions with communities focusing their efforts as follows:
1. Metropolitan Denver area - injury prevention
2. Northeastern Colorado - substance abuse prevention and mental health care
3. Northwestern Colorado - obesity prevention and increased physical activity
4. Southeastern Colorado - obesity and diabetes prevention
5. Southwestern Colorado - improving access to health care.
A four-and-a-half year study of the initiative, concentrating on efforts to prevent obesity and increase physical activity, is measuring sustained dietary and physical activity behavior change over time. Additionally, the evaluation is identifying factors in communities and within individuals that encourage healthy behavior change. The evaluation, which is being conducted by the National Research Center, will be completed in 2007.
Two new Trust initiatives are building off of this five-year effort. The seven-year (2005-2012), $13 million Equality in Health initiative (see article) is designed to reduce racial and ethnic disparities by addressing the needs of the medically underserved. And the five-and-a-half-year (2006-2011), $8.6 million Partnerships for Health initiative (see article) focuses on improving the coordination of health services at the community level.
While the community grants for the Colorado Healthy People 2010 Initiative concluded in September, many grantees are dedicated to continuing their programs. Highlights of a few of their programs follow.
Obesity Prevention and Increased Physical Activity – Northwestern Colorado
Memorial Hospital, the Moffat County Extension and the Visiting Nurse Association, among others, formed Moffat County on the Move. From Healthy Lunch and Eating Well on $5a Day projects, to the Craig/Estes Park Dog Walking Challenge, after-school programs designed to increase the number of available physical activities, worksite wellness programs and a new disc-golf course to encourage greater outdoor activity among Craig residents, Moffat County on the Move has become an integrated and ongoing part of the community's health and fitness programs. Preliminary results indicate increased awareness of the risks of obesity among residents of all ages, as well as behavior changes that include exercise and a healthy diet.
Dental Care – Southwestern Colorado
In the San Juan Basin, Southwest Smilemakers, a small, dental health clinic, expanded to a five-county program serving low-income children directly at their schools. Southwest Smilemakers also put into action a fully-equipped dental van to bring restorative health care to housing units and other community gathering places for low-income families.
Diabetes Prevention – Southeastern Colorado
Teller County Public Health will soon have its first Certified Diabetes Educator. CDE certification is necessary for medical reimbursement of teaching patients about diabetes, but certification requirements are usually too costly for small communities. As a result, patients often don't receive proper diabetes education. With a new hospital soon to be built, Teller County Public Health Department's new Certified Diabetes Educator will assist in the development of a diabetes program, as well as in continued efforts in worksites, schools and the community at large.
Mental Health Care – Northeastern Colorado
In 2002, the 10-county region served by the Centennial Mental Health Center (CMHC) recorded one of the highest rates of substance abuse among 18- to 59-year-olds in Colorado. In response, CMHC declared substance abuse prevention, intervention and treatment a top priority. The Center's Healthy Teens program provides outreach to youth before they engage in potentially destructive behaviors. Youth engaged in the program participate in activities that promote self esteem, community involvement and setting goals, such as community service activities, attending educational workshops on the effects of methamphetamine use, and learning budgeting and job interviewing skills.
Injury Prevention – Metro Denver
In the seven-county Metro Denver region, fitness professionals from recreation centers and senior centers were trained by the Consortium for Older Adult Wellness (COAW) on how best to help prevent falls by older people. The FallProof program was administered to participants ranging in age from 57- to 94-years-old, with preliminary evaluation data showing significant improvement in agility among the nearly 200 participants. Additionally, 25 agencies statewide are now using COAW's less-intensive N'Balance program, providing help to-date to over 400 people at-risk of sustaining serious injury from falling. COAW also developed a great new resource, the Academy for Older Adult Wellness training program, for professionals who work with older adults.
For additional information about the Colorado Healthy People 2010 Initiative, contact Susan Downs-Karkos, Senior Program Officer, susan@coloradotrust.org. For information about the evaluation, contact Nancy Csuti, Director of Evaluation, nancy@coloradotrust.org.
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