Creating Your Vision

What is your vision for the campus and/or community?

My vision for the Filipino population in San Francisco is a heightened awareness and the shared health concerns affecting this constituent. More importantly, I want my community to overcome its mindset of the inevitability of poor health and begin thinking and working towards a healthier lifestyle. I envision members of my community looking beyond their respective family history of chronic diseases i.e. diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and instead, focus on making lifestyle changes, including adopting heart-healthy food selections and increasing physical activity, so as to break the cycle of poor health.

Assessing Your Campus and Community

What campus/community problem does your blueprint address? What structures, practices and policies institutionalize the problem?

My Blueprint addresses the disproportionate rates of heart disease and diabetes in the Filipino population. Part of the problem can be attributed to the constituents' general nonchalant attitude towards health. The reality of having generations of family members diagnosed with chronic diseases, with some even dying from these illnesses, has instilled a belief that they are pre-destined to suffer, and eventually, die, of these causes. Consequently, there is an apathetic, though understandable, belief that there is no use in adopting healthy practices. Nevertheless, the problem must not be reduced to the community/individual levels. Rather, structural practices aggravate this problem. The perception of API populations as successful and free of any significant problems vis-a-vis the “model minority” myth overlooks the numerous different health problems faced by API subgroups, including Filipinos. As government policymakers are unable to recognize the cultural and linguistic needs of API communities in accessing quality healthcare, the nonprofit agencies serving these groups become more overwhelmed and API health conditions worsen. Likewise, there is the challenge of both identifying themselves (Filipinos) and being identified as either Asian or Pacific Islander. As a result, politicians with either large Asian or Pacific Islander constituencies may overlook the issues, including health concerns, affecting the Filipino community if they define them as not being part of their constituency.

What communities will you work with?

• Local community

Setting Goals and Deliverables

• Goal 1: Increase physical activity among middle-aged and elderly Filipinos
• Scheduled weekly group exercise activities with eight to ten participants
• Weekly measurement of participants' BMI, weight loss
• Build network of volunteer personal trainers, group exercise leaders (four present at each group exercise activity)
• Goal 2: Improve eating habits of Filipino community in a culturally-sensitive manner
• Create heart-healthy, culturally-sensitive recipes, and disseminate in form of recipe cards for same group of participants in Goal 1
• Bi-weekly assessment of food selection and portion control
• Goal 3: Create ongoing health education workshops
• Secure meeting place accessible for constituents (St. Patrick)
• Establish network of volunteers willing to conduct research for and facilitate workshops to increase health awareness in Bay Area Filipino community

What is your primary approach? Organizing

Why did you choose this approach?

I want to approach my Blueprint from the bottom-up and engage the participation and leadership of constituents who are personal stakeholders in this project. These stakeholders have had a history of working together on religious and ethnic events and programs; it is just a matter of making use this already established relationship for my Blueprint.

Did you have secondary approaches? What are they?

Advocacy and Activism: enlist support of programs/organizations that have previously or are currently addressing this public health concern in the Filipino community or other ethnic population; learn from their experiences so as to better anticipate/prepare for challenges in implementing Blueprint

Leadership and Capacity Building: educate leaders at St. Patrick's and train leaders to expand Blueprint to other venues, including other faith-based organizations and settings with high Filipino turnouts

What will your tactics and activities be?

- Setup one-on-one meeting with St. Patrick pastor; attend and introduce Blueprint at Parish Council meeting,
- PR: Announcements during mass, flyers
- Sign-up sheets for volunteers/potential participants at the end of mass
- Reconnect with participants from senior honors thesis focus groups
- Delegate tasks, survey commitment to Blueprint and skillset
- Create safe walking routes as part of physical activity component of Blueprint
- Prepare heart-healthy recipes and cooking demonstrations
- Ensure participants' access to linguistically-friendly reading material
- Facilitate introduction meeting at St. Patrick Social Hall
- Describe details of program, including its components (focus on nutrition and physical fitness)
- Conduct initial assessment of current physical activity, food/dietary regimen of Blueprint's first participants

Connecting Back to Vision

How does your strategy contribute to your vision for your campus and/or your community?

My strategy is a stepping stone for participating Filipinos to take control of their health. The outlined tactics will help Filipinos recognize their capacity to improve their health vis-a-vis nutrition and exercise. Filipinos can adopt small and simple changes in their dietary selection, and still enjoy the same dishes that are a significant part of their ethnic culture.

Resources and skills you will need

What skills do you need for this approach?

While implementing my Blueprint, I hope to grow in my capacity to facilitate intergenerational coalition building, particularly among people who have not previously participated in such coalitions. Also, given my interest in engaging in long-term grassroots work, I also want to improve my skills in building consensus and maintaining enthusiasm among volunteers.