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Funding Period:
2003–2008
The Steps Program in Austin–Travis County,
Texas
CDC’s Steps Program funds states, cities, and tribal groups to implement
community-based chronic disease prevention programs to reduce the burden of
obesity, diabetes, and asthma by addressing three related risk factors:
physical inactivity, poor nutrition, and tobacco use. Steps-funded programs
are showing what can be done locally in schools, work sites, communities,
and health care settings to promote healthier lifestyles and help people
make long-lasting and sustainable changes that can reduce their risk for
chronic diseases.
Background
The Steps Program in Austin is building healthier communities in a
contiguous geographic area of 20 Austin ZIP codes by working with schools,
health care providers, work sites, and community leaders. The intervention
area includes more than 460,000 residents, 9 of the city’s 11 Federally
Qualified Health Centers, and 117 schools. Programmatic efforts are focused
on people most burdened by chronic diseases, including low-income children
and adults. This is important because, in 2005, nearly 16% of residents in
Travis County lived below the federal poverty level.
Spotlight on Success
- The Steps Program in Austin works closely with the city
transportation authority, Capital Metro, and its health and wellness
vendor, Health & Lifestyles. A work-site wellness program provides
consultations with dieticians and personal trainers, a 24-hour company
fitness center, and personalized health assessments. Program
participants reported significant improvements in physical activity,
healthy food consumption, weight loss, blood pressure management, stress
levels, and overall general health. Total health care costs increased
only 9.6% from 2004 to 2005, compared with 26.8% from 2003 to 2004, and
employee absenteeism rates—an indicator of worker job satisfaction and
health—also decreased more than 44%, from a high of about 12% in March
2004 to 7% in June 2006. Read this success story in The Steps Program
in Action, available at
www.cdc.gov/steps/success_stories/pdf/austin.pdf (PDF-89KB).
- The Steps Program in Austin works with community health centers,
hospital systems, large provider systems, and private care providers
through the Austin Asthma Coalition and the Central Texas Diabetes
Coalition. In addition, the annual Diabetes Summit and annual Asthma
Summit allow the Austin Steps Program to reach more than 500 providers
with updates on new best practices in screening, diagnosis, and treating
patients and with referral resources throughout the community. Making
needed policy changes within health care settings, such as initiating
policies that refer all people with pre-diabetes to local physical
activity resources, has been a significant priority in the work that
Steps does with health care providers.
Community Partnerships
Community collaboration and guidance are essential to the success of the
Steps Program in Austin. The Austin Steps partnerships comprise health care
providers, health plan providers, neighborhood and community organizations,
faith-based organizations, cooperative extensions, local universities,
community members, and Steps partner agencies. In addition, the Steps
Program works with the Austin Asthma Coalition, the Central Texas Diabetes
Coalition, the Austin Nutrition Work Group, and the Austin Physical Activity
Work Group. These coalitions and work groups include health care providers,
health plan providers, state and local health and social service agencies,
and disease and behavior specialists.
Contact
Steps to a Healthier Austin
City of Austin/Travis County Health and Human Services Department
Telephone: 512-972-6761
www.ithriveaustin.org*
*Links to non-Federal organizations are provided solely as a
service to our users. Links do not constitute an endorsement of any organization
by CDC or the Federal Government, and none should be inferred. The CDC is
not responsible for the content of the individual organization Web pages found
at this link.
One or more documents on this Web page are available in Adobe Acrobat® Format
(PDF).
You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view PDF files on this page.
Page last reviewed: May 2, 2008
Page last modified: July 23, 2008
Content source: Division of Adult and
Community Health, National
Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion
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