Northern Indiana Hispanic Health Coalition: Combating Childhood Obesity through Healthy Hearts Program
"The bright, creative team at enFocus was committed not just to the project but also to our purpose." --Liliana Quintero, Executive Director of NIHHC
Background
Approximately 45% of 4th-6th graders in Elkhart County school districts are obese. In response, the Northern Indiana Hispanic Health Coalition (NIHHC) created the Healthy Hearts program to educate Elkhart County students in 4th-6th grade on the importance of heart health. The program teaches students about nutrition and exercise through hands-on activities led by a trained facilitator during the school day.
Opportunity
NIHHC needed a dashboard to track and visualize three key goals of the Healthy Hearts program: increased physical activity, healthy food consumption, and knowledge about heart issues. Additionally, the application of learning was tracked through measurement and comparison of the Body Mass Index of those who participated in the Healthy Hearts program and those who did not.
Engagement
enFocus Fellows assisted NIHHC in streamlining its data collection process and building a dashboard. Fellows organized previously collected data into a new database to organize and display needed student information. Paper questionnaires were replaced by online student questionnaires and integrated directly into the Healthy Hearts database. Most importantly, the new user-friendly dashboard measured metrics on three key goals and visually displayed the BMI comparison of students with and without health program intervention. The dashboard will allow NIHHC to continue to refine the program and maximize health impact among participating students.
At the conclusion of the successful project, Liliana Quintero, Executive Director of NIHHC, was pleased to hire enFocus Fellow, Sheng Ang, as a full-time Data Analyst & Program Controller into the organization. At enFocus, we are thrilled Sheng will continue to make an impact both in Elkhart and across Northern Indiana through his growth and retention at such a meaningful organization.
Results
New data-cleaning strategies enabled more successful monitoring of the program.
A more secure database elevated the sustainability of the program long term.
Integration of an online questionnaire reduced time taken to complete it and reduced bugs in data transfer reported by 100%
Through the visual dashboard, NIHHC can promote a 15% increase in physical activity, 15% increase in healthy food consumption and a 26% increase in heart-health related knowledge.
