Center for Civic Partnerships

Pasadena/Altadena Health Partnership

For more information on the Health Partnership's work contact:

Sharla Moore, Project Coordinator
1845 N. Fair Oaks Ave., Room 1515
Pasadena, CA 91103
Tel: (626) 744-6061
Email: smoore@ci.pasadena.ca.us

Preventive Dental Education and Care

Led by the community Health Alliance of Pasadena (CHAP), the partnership is supporting the enhancement of dental services in Pasadena and Altadena. A dental promorta assigned to CHAP is working with the Pasadena Unified School District to educate students and their families on proper dental health. The promotora also outreaches to link families to treatment by Pasadena City College for dental cleanings and sealants and by the University of Southern California mobile dental clinic, cosponsored by Young & Healthy and the Partnership.

There's more! By March, children and adults can be referred to CHAP dental clinic. Construction on this long awaited facility is finally complete. The clinic will be staffed, licensed and fully operational sometime in February. A grand opening event is being planned for the spring. This will be the culmination of a collective community effort to create access to dental care for low-income residents.

During monthly meetings of the Northwest Service Area Advisory Board (NWSAAB), Northwest Pasadena neighborhood leaders have increased their knowledge of community resources, city programs, and processes that can be used to address urban blight issues. Representatives from the City Prosecutor's Office,Public Works/Street Maintenance and Waste Management & Forestry operations, Code Enforcement and the Police Department's Gang Unit have attended NWSAAB meetings to share information. Residents and City employees grapple with solutions to problems such as graffiti, gangs, drugs, trash dumping and discuss other neighborhood needs. Over time, NWSAAB participants have been empowered to shape how police resources are marshaled in Northwest area. As a result, the police are more responsive to neighborhood specific concerns. NWSAAB participants developed and began implementation of a neighborhood based action plan to reduce illegal trash dumping. They addressed the problem by sending letters from neighbors to "problem properties," disturbing information about proper disposal of bulky items (i.e.-mattresses, furniture, construction waste), and approaching local legislators for advocacy and support.

The NWSAAB agenda tends to be crime enforcement-dominated. Residents and the police lietenant who runs the meeting confirm that police presence and traditional public interventions are the preferred and most effective means of addressing neighborhood problems. A visible officer or two quickly disrupts or displaces the undesirable activity. Pushing a more prevention-oriented agenda is difficult because prevention is less tangible and does not bring immediate results that residents desire. The NWSAAB continues to be the most participatory and active public safety service area advisory board in the City. The jury is still out on whether the unique public health/police partnership is the source of its success.

CCP Health Partnership Newsbrief: February 2001

Sustaining Smiles -- Top Priority for Pasadena/Altadena Health Partnership

The Pasadena/Altadena Health Partnership (P/AHP) has identified dental health services as a high priority for its sustainability efforts. The Dental Health Services Coalition is composed of dental providers, community representatives, children’s advocates, Pasadena Unified School District representatives, Pasadena City College Department of Hygiene faculty, the Director of the Pasadena Health Department and the Community Health Alliance of Pasadena (CHAP) Executive Director. Many Coalition members are also members of the Partnership. The Dental Health Services Coalition has assisted in the formulation of community dental service priorities, the baby bottle tooth decay prevention curriculum, children’s dental health education curriculum and outreach efforts. The Coalition has also been designated as the advisory body for CHAP’s dental services clinic that is scheduled to open in the fall of 2000. The efforts of the Partnership’s Coalition and the services they initiated will ensure a lasting community legacy.

The following paragraphs describe this year's efforts.

The P/AHP collaboration with the Community Health Alliance of Pasadena, a grass roots community clinic, has launched a bilingual (Spanish/English) dental health education campaign, which instructs young mothers on the prevention of baby bottle tooth decay(decay occurs when sweetened liquids are given and are left clinging to an infant's teeth for long periods). This preventive education effort was conducted at the Women, Infants and Children program (WIC) sites as well as the childcare program at a local high school. The sessions were given in the waiting rooms of the WIC sites while mothers were awaiting services. The interactive talks or “platicas” provided hands on instruction in the prevention of baby bottle tooth decay and demonstrated children’s oral hygiene to WIC mothers. The well-received sessions gave the mothers an opportunity to obtain preventive information as well as ask questions in small groups. The participants received hygiene kits containing child and adult toothbrushes, floss and toothpaste. The campaign reached over eight hundred mothers and their families.

The Partnership's collaboration with the children's advocacy organization; Young and Healthy, brought direct dental services to the area through two weeklong service campaigns. The USC School of Dentistry mobile dental clinic van, volunteer dentists and fourth year dental students provided complete dental care to the neediest of members of the community, many who have never seen a dentist. Through this effort, approximately five hundred clients (mostly children) were given comprehensive dental care, which included fillings, X-Rays, root canals, extractions, sealants, fluoridation and education.

Their partnership with Pasadena City College (PCC) Dental Hygiene Department has bolstered the dental prophylaxis treatment offered to Pasadena Unified School District (PUSD) third and fourth graders from Healthy Start Schools. Approximately 600 PUSD students received in class education, as well as cleanings and sealants from the PCC Dental Hygiene Clinic.

The bilingual dental health educator, a Pasadena native, has great rapport with community members. Partnership-sponsored and staffed dental health education booths were part of several school and community health fairs, the Mayor's Picnic and Public Health Week. The Partnership has provided educational services to over 1,200 members of the Pasadena/Altadena community. Future plans for a summer school and summer activities for the dental health education campaign will bring the year's direct services total to well over three thousand clients.

CCP Health Partnership News:Summer 2000

Pasadena/Altadena Promotes Putting Policy into Action

Effective utilization of local data is the cornerstone of the Pasadena /Altadena Health Partnership policy project. The Pasadena/Altadena Health Partnership (P/AHP) assists local agencies in making the most of community policy data by providing one on one technical assistance to local community organizations. Policy consultant, Taffany Lim, works with local agencies to integrate local data into their decision-making process.

Recently, Young & Healthy, a local agency, requested assistance with comparing gaps in local health services. Using locally available resources such as the Quality of Life Index, LA County Children's Planning Council and Proposition 10 Community Forums a matrix was developed. This matrix will be an integral part of the agencies decision making plan.

CCP Health Partnership Newsbrief: Winter 2000

Dental Services Coalition -- Building Capacity

"It was gratifying to see a community member learn new information and become confident speaking in front of a group," said Kelly Russell, Project Coordinator of the Pasadena/Altadena Health Partnership. The Dental Services Coalition, a small but dynamic group, trained a community member to provide dental education classes to families with children. During a two month period, she made presentations to a total of 1,868 WIC (Women's Infants and Children - Nutritional Supplement Program) clients, providing both hygiene and referral information. The Coalition expects this effort will reduce the incidence of tooth decay in infants and young children. The Coalition is also acting in a support and advisory role to Community Health Alliance of Pasadena (CHAP) as they create a community dental clinic.

CCP Health Partnership Newsbrief: Summer 99

New Quality of Life Index

The Pasadena/Altadena Health Partnership (P/AHP), in conjunction with the Pasadena Healthy Cities Project, published The Quality of Life in Pasadena, 1998. This report is comprised of ten primary quality of life subject areas and over 55 individual indicators. In addition, the Health Partnership published A Summary of Pasadena & Altadena Community Health Assessments, 1992-98, which is an overview of 16 local surveys and five community policy and priority statements. A summary of the two documents was presented to the community in a series of participatory workshops held in early October. The P/AHP received local press coverage and accolades from many peers who were familiar with the original Index.

CCP Health Partnership Newsbrief: Winter 99

Health Partnership Update:

Plan implementation has begun and the Pasadena/Altadena Health Partnership is moving ahead with governance and coalition building. They have a three-part plan: (1) community strengthening so that citizens will get involved with community policing and developing ways to use prevention to improve the quality of life in the area; (2) Healthy Cities Project, dealing with data quality, management and availability, and; (3) preventive dental care and education for children and adults.

Community Strengthening. The Pasadena Police Department plans to set up a six-member community resident advisory board for Northwest Pasadena, one of four policing service areas in the City. Partnership members started meeting with the Police Department last spring and the police agreed to expand the board. Now both groups will each nominate five members. In October, the Partnership approved their nominees. The Police also agreed to expand the board's activities so that prevention is used as a way to improve the quality of life in the Northwest. The board will refine this general goal next year.

Healthy Cities Project. The Partnership is almost finished updating the 1992 Quality of Life Index and plans to publish it by the end of 1997. The update will be a companion to the original index. A working committee has been revising the indicators. The Partnership looks forward to hosting the 10th Annual Healthy Cities conference on April 23-24, 1998.

Preventive Dental Care and Education. The Partnership’s dental service coalition has planned for second, third and fourth graders to receive dental check-ups, cleanings and sealant (if needed) at Pasadena City College’s dental hygiene clinic beginning in spring 1998. They are also looking at the number of Denti-Cal providers in the area compared to the number of people eligible for services.

The Partnership is also forming a Steering Committee, made up of seven Partnership representatives and six community residents, each representing a different geographic area. The seven Partnership representatives have been confirmed, and applications for the six community resident members are now being accepted. A panel will interview all applicants and select a group of nominees for Partnership approval by mid-November.

The Partnership has made a lot of progress in forming the coalitions needed to set their plan in motion. It is rewarding to see the plan become a reality. Keeping the original vision and adding new ideas will always be a challenge.

CCP Health Partnership Newsbrief: Fall 1997