A model for implementing Healthy People 2000 objectives in African-American communities in California

Using Healthy People 2000 as the source document, regional task forces were formed at the request of the Health Promotion Section of the California Department of Health Services to set health promotion objectives and recommendations for the state's ethnic populations. The topics chosen by regional African-American task forces were (1) violence and abusive behavior, (2) physical activity and fitness, (3) nutrition, (4) tobacco, (5) educational and community-based programs, (6) cancer, and (7) heart disease and stroke. Objectives were expanded, linked together, and revised to meet felt needs. The regional task forces presented the first draft of the document for review at the Multiethnic Health Promotion Conference held in Sacramento, California, June 11 through 13, 1991. The expanded task force, including conference participants, amended the recommendations and ranked the topic areas in order of priority. The group also responded to the challenge of developing implementation strategies for the recommendations. We discuss the early stages of dissemination and implementation of the agenda among California African-American communities. American Indian, Asian/Pacific Islander, and Latino Task Forces have prepared similar documents, and each document will be used to prepare the Multiethnic Health Promotion Agenda for California. We summarize the process by which the papers were developed and provide detailed analysis of the African-American process.