Urban Health

Combating Disparities with Local Data

Steven Whitman, Ami Shah, and Maureen Benjamins

Introduces one of the most comprehensive data sets describing the health of local communities within one city.

Urban Health

Combating Disparities with Local Data

Steven Whitman, Ami Shah, and Maureen Benjamins

Description

The 1980s opened a discussion of the varying nature of health in different segments of the United States. Falling under the rubric of "health disparities," a great deal of research has been published demonstrating the substantial differences in health status within a population. The causes of health disparities are varied and not always clear but most researchers agree that disparities are a reflection of social and economic inequities and political injustice. One of the obstacles to addressing disparities is the lack of meaningful health data especially for vulnerable populations, which is often nonexistent despite being a critical factor for informing health programs and policies at the local level. This book provides a model for combating health disparities by describing how the authors gathered local health information, engaged the community at every step of the process, and created movement toward evidence-based sustainable change.

This book describes how a landmark health survey in Chicago generated dramatic data that are allowing investigators throughout the city to move from data to action and from observation to intervention. In providing a detailed description of how the community-focused collection and analysis of health data can serve as an impetus for improved well-being, Urban Health is an invaluable resource for researchers, community groups, students and professionals.

Urban Health

Combating Disparities with Local Data

Steven Whitman, Ami Shah, and Maureen Benjamins

Contents

Chapter 1. Introducing the Sinai Model for Reducing Health Disparities and Improving Health
Steven Whitman, Ami M. Shah, and Maureen R. Benjamins

Chapter 2. A History of the Movement to Address Health Disparities
Jade L. Dell and Steven Whitman

Section 2
The Importance of Local Data: Introduction to Section 2
Ami M. Shah, Steven Whitman, Maureen R. Benjamins

Chapter 3. Sinai's Improving Community Health Survey: Methodology and Key Findings
Ami M. Shah and Steven Whitman

Chapter 4. The Jewish Community Health Survey of Chicago: Methodology and Key Findings
Maureen R. Benjamins

Chapter 5. The Chicago Asian Community Surveys: Methodology and Key Findings
Matthew J. McGee, Lucy Guo, Ami M. Shah and Hong Liu

Chapter 6. Comparing the Health Status of Ten Chicago Communities
Ami M. Shah

Section 3
Translating Data into Action: Introduction to Section 3
Steven Whitman, Ami M. Shah, and Maureen R. Benjamins

Chapter 7. Working Together to Live Tobacco Free: Community-Based Smoking Cessation in North Lawndale
Joseph F. West and Charlene J. Gamboa

Chapter 8. Combating Childhood Obesity through a Neighborhood Coalition: Community Organizing for Obesity Prevention in Humboldt Park
Adam B. Becker, Katherine Kaufer Christoffel, Miguel Morales, José Luis Rodríguez, José E. López, Matt Longjohn

Chapter 9. Fighting Childhood Obesity in a Jewish Community
Maureen R. Benjamins

Chapter 10. Disproportionate Impact of Diabetes in a Puerto Rican Community of Chicago
Steven Whitman, Jose E. Lopez, Steven K. Rothschild, and Jaime Delgado

Chapter 11. Pediatric Asthma in African American and Latino Chicago Communities - Local Level Data Drives Response
Helen Margellos-Anast, Melissa A. Gutierrez

Chapter 12. Humboldt Park: A Community United to Challenge Asthma
Molly Martin and Juana Ballesteros

Section 4
Implications

Chapter 13. Community-Based Health Interventions: Past, Present, and Future
Leah Ansell
Chapter 14. The Future Holds Promise
Steven Whitman, Ami M. Shah, and Maureen R. Benjamins

Index

Urban Health

Combating Disparities with Local Data

Steven Whitman, Ami Shah, and Maureen Benjamins

Author Information

Steven Whitman, PhD: Director, Sinai Urban Health Institute, Chicago, IL

Ami M. Shah, MPH: Senior Epidemiologist, Sinai Urban Health Institute, Chicago, IL

Maureen Benjamins, PhD: Senior Epidemiologist, Sinai Urban Health Institute, Chicago, IL

Contributors:

Contributors

Maureen R. Benjamins, PhD
Senior Epidemiologist
Sinai Urban Health Institute
Chicago, Illinois

Adam B. Becker, PhD, MPH
Executive Director
Consortium to Lower Obesity in Chicago Children (CLOCC)
Children's Memorial Hospital
Chicago, Illinois

Juana Ballesteros, BSN, RN, MPH
Executive Director
Greater Humboldt Park Community of Wellness

Leah H. Ansell, BA
Medical Student
Feinberg School of Medicine
Northwestern University
Chicago, Illinois

Alan H. Channing
President and CEO
Sinai Health System
Chicago, Illinois

Katherine Kaufer Christoffel, MD, MPH
Professor of Pediatrics and Preventive Medicine
Feinberg School of Medicine
Northwestern University Medical School

Jaime Delgado, BA
Project Director
BLOCK-BY-BLOCK
The Greater Humboldt Park Community Campaign against Diabetes

Jade L. Dell, MRE
Coordinator of Research Programs
Sinai Urban Health Institute
Chicago, Illinois

Charlene Gamboa, MPH
Project Coordinator
Sinai Urban Health Institute
Chicago, Illinois

Lucy Guo, MPH
Epidemiologist
John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital
Cook County

Melissa A. Gutierrez, MS
Epidemiologist
Sinai Urban Health Institute
Chicago, Illinois

Hong Liu, PhD
Former Executive Director
Asian Health Coalition of Illinois

Matt Longjohn, MD, MPH
Assistant Adjunct Professor
Department of Pediatrics
Feinberg School of Medicine
Northwestern University
Institute Fellow
Altarum Institute

José E. López, Executive Director
Juan Antonio Corretjer Puerto Rican Cultural Center
Instructor
Columbia College, University of Illinois and Northeastern Illinois University

Helen Margellos-Anast, MPH
Senior Epidemiologist and Project Director
Sinai Urban Health Institute
Chicago, Illinois

Molly Martin, MD
Assistant Professor
Department of Preventive Medicine
Section of Community and Social Medicine
Rush University Medical Center
Chicago, Illinois

Matthew McGee, MPH
Department of Epidemiology
Rollins School of Public Health
Emory University
Atlanta, Georgia

Miguel Angel Morales
West Town Community Networker
Consortium to Lower Obesity in Chicago Children (CLOCC)
Chair
Active Lifestyles Task Force of the Greater Humboldt Park Community of Wellness

José Luis Rodríguez
Program Director
Community Organizing for Obesity Prevention in Humboldt Park

Steven K. Rothschild, MD
Vice Chair of the Department of Preventive Medicine
Director of the Section of Community and Social Medicine
Rush University Medical Center
Chicago, Illinois

Ami M. Shah, MPH
Senior Epidemiologist and Program Manager
Sinai Urban Health Institute
Chicago, Illinois

Joseph F. West, ScD
Program Director of the North Lawndale Smoking Cessation Program
Sinai Urban Health Institute
Chicago, Illinois

Steven Whitman, PhD
Founder and Director
Sinai Urban Health Institute
Chicago, Illinois