Active living as an institutional challenge: lessons from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's "Celebrate Fitness" program.
Native American youth suffer disproportionately from a range of adverse health conditions. Empowering youth leaders to work on community-based solutions has proved effective in reducing tobacco use and gun violence and is now emerging as a promising approach to improving fitness and health. This article, based on direct observation and interviews with key informants, examines the implementation of a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation-funded project that gave tribal youth councils minigrants to design and run diverse projects that encourage physical activity in their communities. The article highlights the institutional challenges that confront health-promotion strategies for disadvantaged populations. Unless they take proper account of organizational, political, environmental, and cultural forces, funders' interventions have limited chances for success and sustainability.
Brown
Lawrence D
LD
Columbia University, USA.
Kraft
M Katherine
MK
D019058:Community Networks / Q000458:organization & administration*; D015444:Exercise; D005378:Financial Support; D015438:Health Behavior; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D007198:Indians, North American; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D019370:Observation; D009825:Oklahoma; D019982:Organizational Case Studies; D011209:Power, Psychological