More than 300 Douglas, Ariz., community members have joined the Steps Forward/Pasos Adelante program since 2003, marking an important milestone for this program that aims to prevent diabetes and cardiovascular disease in Latino populations by promoting regular physical activity and healthy food choices. The program is coordinated by the Southwest Center for Community Health Promotion (SWCCHP which is under the umbrella of the Canyon Ranch Center for Prevention and Health Promotion at The University of Arizona Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health.

In addition, the program was featured on the CDC Web site. The story included photos and interviews with participants and Center members. (Click here to read the online feature).

The Pasos Adelante curriculum encourages community members to increase their physical activity by participating in weekly walking clubs and 12 disease-prevention classes that address diabetes and other chronic disease prevention tips and include information about physical activity, nutrition, and community health.  The education curriculum has been expanded to include information on depression, a condition that often affects people who deal with chronic illness. Classes are offered weekly at The First Presbyterian Church in Douglas and the walking clubs take place weekly at the 8th Street Park.      

Blanca Robles, a Douglas resident and promotora delivering the Pasos Adelante curriculum, states that program participants have shared with her just how much they have enjoyed the program as well as how the program has changed their lives.  “They have told me how interesting it was for them to learn how to read food labels in grocery stores and how they have become more aware of the foods they eat.  They have also stated how much they have enjoyed walking with the walking clubs,” she explains.

“This program has even empowered a participant with the information that ultimately saved her husband from a full-fledged heart attack.  This participant shared with me that as soon as she recognized he was having the symptoms of a heart attack—something she says she would not have recognized prior to the classes—she knew that she had to take him straight to the hospital,” she adds.

For the most part, the participants in the Pasos Adelante program have reported enjoying themselves and have learned how to incorporate more physical activity into their everyday lives as well as how to eat healthier.

From 2000 to 2003, the Steps Forward/Pasos Adelante program was implemented in Santa Cruz and Yuma Counties as part of the Border Health Strategic Initiative (Border Health ¡SI!), a community-based program for the prevention of diabetes.  From 2003-2004, the program was offered in Douglas, Ariz., through an NIH-funded Excellence in Partnerships for Community Outreach, Research on Health Disparities, and Training (EXPORT) grant, an Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS)/United States-Mexico Border Health Commission mini-grant, and by the SWCCHP, a CDC-funded Prevention Research Center that is part of The UA Zuckerman College of Public Health.  In 2004, the program continued in the Douglas community through funding provided by the SWCCHP and Steps to a Healthier Cochise County.