Community health events for enrolling uninsured into public health insurance programs: implications for health reform.

Objectives: To determine whether enrollment events may serve as a venue to identify eligible individuals, enroll them into health insurance programs, and educate them about the changes the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will bring about.

Methods: More than 2900 surveys were administered to attendees of 7 public health insurance enrollment events in California. Surveys were used to identify whether participants had any change in understanding of health reform after participating in the event.

Using an alliance of independent health consumer assistance centers to change public policy in California.

Problem: The complexity of the U.S. health care system has created many obstacles for individuals and families trying to gain access to health insurance and health care services.

Assessing resource environments to target prevention interventions in community chronic disease control.

The recent emphasis in public health and medicine on the environmental determinants of chronic illness has created the need for a more comprehensive way to assess barriers and facilitators of healthy living. This paper reports on the approach taken by a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)-funded project whose goal is to reduce disparities in diabetes and cardiovascular disease in Los Angeles' African American communities. Findings from this community-based participatory research project suggest that while location is an important variable in evaluating nutritional and physical activity resources, quality and price considerations are at least as useful.

Putting promotion into practice: the African Americans building a legacy of health organizational wellness program.

A Los Angeles REACH demonstration project led by Community Health Councils, Inc. adapted and implemented an organizational wellness intervention originally developed by the local health department, providing training in incorporating physical activity and healthy food choices into the routine "conduct of business" in 35 predominantly public and private, nonprofit-sector agencies. A total of 700 staff, members, or clients completed the 12-week or subsequently retooled 6-week curriculum.

An evaluation of independent consumer assistance centers on problem resolution and user satisfaction: the consumer perspective.

Individuals who wish to receive independent assistance to resolve access to care health problems have limited options. The Health Consumer Alliance (HCA) is an independent, coordinated effort of nine legal services organizations that provide free assistance to low-income health consumers in 10 California counties. The need for the HCA stems from the vast number of health consumers with unanswered questions and unresolved problems relating to access to care issues, among both insured and uninsured populations.

African Americans' access to healthy food options in South Los Angeles restaurants.

Objectives: We examined availability and food options at restaurants in less affluent (target area) and more affluent (comparison area) areas of Los Angeles County to compare residents' access to healthy meals prepared and purchased away from home. We also considered environmental prompts that encourage the purchase of various foods.

Methods: We designed an instrument to assess the availability, quality, and preparation of food in restaurants.

Leading by example: a local health department-community collaboration to incorporate physical activity into organizational practice.

A multisectoral model promoting sociocultural environmental change to increase physical activity levels among African Americans in Los Angeles County, California, was developed and implemented. This model represents a true collaboration between a local health department and a community lead agency. Community organizations serving targeted areas of the county participated in one or more interventions incorporating physical activity into routine organizational practice, which centered around modeling the behaviors promoted ("walking the talk").

Improving the nutritional resource environment for healthy living through community-based participatory research.

Objectives: To build health promotion capacity among community residents through a community-based participatory model, and to apply this model to study the nutritional environment of an urban area to better understand the role of such resources in residents' efforts to live a healthy life.

Design: A multiphase collaborative study that inventoried selected markets in targeted areas of high African-American concentration in comparison with markets in a contrasting wealthier area with fewer African Americans.

Setting: A community study set in the Los Angeles metropolitan area.