摘要：In 2009, CARE (Community Alliance for Research and Engagement at Yale University) launched a multisectoral chronic disease prevention initiative that conducts baseline data collection, interventions, and follow-up data collection to measure change. Data collection includes asset mapping to assess environmental determinants of chronic disease risk factors in neighborhoods and around schools. CARE hired 7 local high school students to conduct asset mapping; they walked more than 3000 miles and collected 492 data points. Employing youths as community health workers to collect data greatly enriched the community research process and offered many advantages. We were able to efficiently and effectively conduct scientifically rigorous mapping while gaining entry into some of New Haven's most research-wary and skeptical neighborhoods. KEY FINDINGS ▪Engaging youths as community health workers is a successful model for collecting scientifically rigorous asset map data. ▪Key elements to the project were partnering with youth leadership development organizations, focusing on youth capacity building and mentorship, supporting youths through safe data collection with field captain supervision and team deployment, employing a comprehensive advanced outreach strategy, and using handheld computers to facilitate efficient data collection and management. ▪User-friendly, open-platform geographical information system software is needed so that youths and other community research partners can access and contribute to the mapping process for their own advocacy purposes. CHRONIC DISEASES ACCOUNT for 70% of all deaths in the United States 1 and 75% of the nation's $2.5 trillion health care expenditures 2 ; 133 million Americans live with at least 1 chronic illness. 3 In 2009, CARE (Community Alliance for Research and Engagement at the Yale School of Public Health) launched a chronic disease prevention initiative, Community Interventions for Health. New Haven, Connecticut, was the first US city to join this multinational community-based intervention study with sites in Mexico, India, and China. 4 Its goal is to decrease the burden of chronic disease by addressing 3 risk behaviors: diet, exercise, and smoking. The study collects baseline data to identify chronic disease risk, conducts interventions in multiple sectors (e.g., neighborhoods, schools), and collects follow-up data to measure change. All sites have completed baseline data collection and are implementing interventions. Asset mapping documents features of the built environment that affect health, such as access to nutritious foods and green space. 5 – 13 Resultant maps illustrate community needs, identify assets, and engage communities in making change. 9 , 12 – 19 We adapted this approach from the Community Interventions for Health initiative environmental scan methodology 20 for an urban US context. With the help of local high school students, we conducted baseline asset mapping to assess environmental determinants of chronic disease in 6 low-resource neighborhoods and the perimeters of 12 randomly selected schools in New Haven.
