Posts tagged pilot

VIDEO: Creating ‘Policy Change Agents’ to Reduce Latino Childhood Obesity

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11 months ago
by admin in ,

In its effort to reduce the Latino childhood obesity epidemic, Salud America!—through the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF)—funded 20 pilot research projects to build the field of Latino researchers and increase evidence to fight Latino childhood obesity.

The resulting 20 Salud America! pilot grantees have since tested innovative interventions and evaluations in Latino childhood nutrition, fitness and policy. The grants are “career-builders,” helping grantees leverage their data to get a foothold at their institutions, as well as embark on larger-scale work based off their successful pilot results.

The 20 grantees already have accrued more than $30 million in new funding, and more proposals are in review and development.

They also are sharing their individual research briefs (featuring preliminary research and policy implications) with local, regional and national policymakers.

Meanwhile, grantees also helped develop the Policy Contribution Spectra model, which visually illustrates how researchers can work in and between different levels in the policy development process—thus defining and measuring policy contribution. Grantees worked with a spectra expert to see how their work contributes to policy development, opening pilots’ eyes to innovative ways they can influence policy even when their pilot project expires.

Watch how far the grantees have become sort of “policy change agents”:

Salud America! The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Research Network to Prevent Obesity Among Latino Children, is led by the Institute for Health Promotion Research (IHPR) at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, the team behind SaludToday. Salud America! has built a network—an online community—of nearly 2,000 researchers, academics, community leaders and other advocates dedicated to reversing Latino childhood obesity.

Grantee’s Broadway Dancing Aspirations, Marred by Health Issue, Turned into Desire to Help Others

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3 years ago
by admin in

Shari BarkinLike many young girls, Shari Barkin wanted to be a Broadway dancer.

So she practiced rigorously—two hours a morning before school—and put together a strong résumé as a professional ballerina. At age 16 she was accepted by The Washington Ballet, a company recognized internationally for its high standards and artistic integrity, then joined a traveling jazz company, dancing in front of thousands.

She even got to Broadway, dancing in New York after her freshman year in college.

But one morning her sophomore year, she awoke and couldn’t move her legs. She was diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome, in which the body’s immune system attacks part of the peripheral nervous system, causing varying degrees of leg weakness.

She was hospitalized for weeks and realized a dance career was too risky – but a new career option quickly arose.

“My medical care, while competent, was not compassionate, comprehensive or clear. When I had recovered, I went back to that same floor and volunteered. I wanted to listen to patients and help them find their voice to ensure they could get what they needed,” said Barkin, who went on to get medical and public health degrees. “This experience not only shaped my career choice but shaped how I view the world.”

Read more about Barkin and how her experience led her to research solutions to Latino childhood oebsity on Page 4 of the Salud America! Spring 2010 E-Newsletter.

Salud America! is a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation network to pevent obesity among Latino kids. The network is directed by the Institute for Health Promotion Research at The UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, which developed SaludToday. To sign up to receive Salud America! E-newsletters, go here.

Video Game a Solution to Latino Child Obesity?

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3 years ago
by admin in ,

dancedanceDon’t many people blame video games for kids’ couch-potato ways, which are contributing to high rates of childhood obesity?

Zan Gao thinks a video game can be part of the solution.

Thanks to Salud America! funding, Gao is pilot-testing how Dance Dance Revolution (DDR), a video game that has players stomp on a dance mat to mimic the steps of an on-screen dancer boogieing to ultra cool music, impacts Latino students’ physical activity, fitness and academic performance in Utah schools.

“We chose DDR because it is considered culturally sensitive to urban Latino children, who favor playing video games,” said Gao, an assistant professor of exercise and sports science at the University of Utah. “The kids are very excited about DDR and, most importantly, are active when playing it.”

Read more about Gao and his project on Page 5 of the Salud America! Spring 2010 E-Newsletter.

Salud America! is a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation network to pevent obesity among Latino kids. The network is directed by the Institute for Health Promotion Research at The UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, which developed SaludToday. To sign up to receive Salud America! E-newsletters, go here.

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