Harlem Health Promotion Center

Putting Health Promotion Into Action Through Community Collaboration

The Harlem Household Survey
In order to address Harlem’s most pressing health needs, HHPC staff first needed to find out what they were. The center set out to conduct an ambitious, comprehensive survey of the health and habits in 1,300 residences in Central Harlem. Conducted over the course of three years, researchers for the Harlem Household Survey (HHS) knocked on doors to gather data on a wide range of health-related issues. Research participants were asked for basic demographic facts, along with information about their diet and exercise habits, height and weight, diagnosed health conditions, substance use, sexual behaviors, smoking habits, periodicity of medical screenings, and health insurance coverage.

The findings of the survey received broad attention, providing researchers and community groups with a dependable accounting of the neighborhood’s health-related risk and protective factors, which included high rates of chronic diseases, high self-reported illicit drug use and alcohol consumption, and elevated rates of engagement in risky sexual behaviors.

Based on the results of the Harlem Household Survey, and in consultation with our Community Advisory Board, the Harlem Health Promotion Center has decided to focus its research on the following priority areas:

Adolescent and School Health Promotion

Volel C, Soren K, Cohall A, Tiezzi L, Conroy D. A pilot project: pediatric resident and medical student training rotation in school-based health clinics. J Sch Health 2004;74(6):195-6.

Cohall AT, Cohall R, Ellis JA, Vaughan RD, Northridge ME, Watkins-Bryant G, et al. More than heights and weights: what parents of urban adolescents want from health care providers. J Adolesc Health 2004;34(4):258-61.

Cohall A, Kassotis J, Parks R, Vaughan R, Bannister H, Northridge M. Adolescents in the age of AIDS: myths, misconceptions, and misunderstandings regarding sexually transmitted diseases. J Natl Med Assoc 2001;93(2):64-9.

Bell DL, Ragin DF, Cohall A. Cross-cultural issues in prevention, health promotion, and risk reduction in adolescence. Adolesc Med 1999;10(1):57-69, vi.

Chronic Diseases

Asthma

Kwon HL, Ortiz B, Swaner R, Shoemaker K, Betina JL, Northridge ME, Vaughan RD, et al. Childhood Asthma and Extreme Values of Body Mass Index: The Harlem Children's Zone Asthma Initiative. J Urban Health 2006;83(3):421-33.

Northridge ME; Meyer IH; Dunn L. Overlooked and Underserved in Harlem: A Population-Based Survey of Adults with Asthma. Environmental Health Perspectives 2002;110(2): 217-220.

Kinney PL, Northridge ME, Chew GL, Gronning E, Joseph E, Correa JC, et al. On the front lines: an environmental asthma intervention in New York City. Am J Public Health 2002;92(1):24-6.

Northridge ME, Jean-Louis B, Shoemaker K, Nicholas S. Advancing population health in the Harlem Children's Zone Project. Soz Praventivmed 2002;47(4):201-2.

Northridge ME; Yankura J; Kinney PL; Santella RM; et al. Diesel exhaust exposure among adolescents in Harlem: a community-driven study. American Journal of Public Health; July 1999: 89(7): 998-1002.

Cancer

Ashford AR, Albert SM, Hoke G, Cushman LF, Miller DS, Bassett M. Prostate carcinoma knowledge, attitudes, and screening behavior among African-American men in Central Harlem, New York City. Cancer 2001;91(1):164-72.

Ashford A, Gemson D, Sheinfeld Gorin SN, Bloch S, Lantigua R, Ahsan H, et al. Cancer screening and prevention practices of inner-city physicians. Am J Prev Med 2000;19(1):59-62.

Cardiovascular Disease

Diez-Roux AV, Northridge ME, Morabia A, Bassett MT, Shea S. Prevalence and social correlates of cardiovascular disease risk factors in Harlem. Am J Public Health 1999;89(3):302-7.

Smoking Cessation and Control

Northridge ME. Building coalitions for tobacco control and prevention in the 21st century. Am J Public Health 2004;94(2):178-80.

Moon-Howard J. African American women and smoking: starting later. Am J Public Health 2003;93(3):418-20.

Gemson DH, Moats HL, Watkins BX, Ganz ML, Robinson S, Healton E. Laying down the law: reducing illegal tobacco sales to minors in central Harlem. Am J Public Health 1998;88(6):936-9.

Community Based Participatory Research

Northridge ME, Sidibe S, Goehl TJ. Environment and health: capacity building for the future. Environ Health Perspect 2004;112(15):A858-60.

VanDevanter N, Hennessy M, Moon Howard J, Bleakly A, Peake M, Millet S, Cohall A, et al. Developing a collaborative community, academic, health department partnership for STD prevention: the Gonorrhea Community Action Project in Harlem. J Public Health Management Practice 2002; 8(6):62-68.

Northridge ME, Vallone D, Merzel C, Greene D, Shepard P, Cohall AT, et al. The adolescent years: an academic-community partnership in Harlem comes of age. J Public Health Manag Pract 2000;6(1):53-60.

Health Communication

Cohall A, Cohall R. Why you should consider "messaging" with your patients and parents by e-mail and the Web. Contemporary Pediatrics 2004 Oct.

Chang BL, Bakken S, Brown SS, Houston TK, Kreps GL, Kukafka R, et al. Bridging the digital divide: reaching vulnerable populations. J Am Med Inform Assoc 2004;11(6):448-57.

Cohall A, Cohall R, Dye B, Dini S, Vaughan R. Parents of urban adolescents in Harlem, New York and the Internet: a cross-sectional survey on preferred resources for health information. J Med Internet Res 2004;6(4):1-8.

Kukafka R, Johnson SB, Linfante A, Allegrante JP. Grounding a new information technology implementation framework in behavioral science: a systematic analysis of the literature on IT use. J Biomed Inform 2003;36(3):218-27.

Kukafka R, Lussier YA, Patel VL, Cimino JJ. Modeling patient response to acute myocardial infarction: implications for a tailored technology-based program to reduce patient delay. Proc AMIA Symp 1999:570-4.

Improving Access to Care

Cohall AT, Cohall R, Ellis JA, Vaughan RD, Northridge ME, Watkins-Bryant G, et al. More than heights and weights: what parents of urban adolescents want from health care providers. J Adolesc Health 2004;34(4):258-61.

Kalmuss D, Davidson A, Cohall A, Laraque D, Cassell C. Preventing sexual risk behaviors and pregnancy among teenagers: linking research and programs. Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health 2003;35(2):87-93.

Merzel C, Moon-Howard J. Access to health services in an urban community: does source of care make a difference? J Urban Health 2002;79(2):186-99.

Oral Health

Ahluwalia K. Oral health care for the elderly: more than just dentures. Am J Public Health 2004;94(5):698.

Ahluwalia KP, Sadowsky D. Oral disease burden and dental services utilization by Latino and African-American seniors in Northern Manhattan. J Community Health 2003;28(4):267-80.

Zabos GP, Northridge ME, Ro MJ, Trinh C, Vaughan R, Moon Howard J, et al. Lack of oral health care for adults in Harlem: a hidden crisis. Am J Public Health 2002;92(1):49-52.

Sexual Health

Kalmuss D, Davidson A, Cohall A, Laraque D, Cassell C. Preventing sexual risk behaviors and pregnancy among teenagers: linking research and programs. Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health 2003;35(2):87-93.

VanDevanter N, Hennessy M, Moon Howard J, Bleakly A, Peake M, Millet S, Cohall A, et al. Developing a collaborative community, academic, health department partnership for STD prevention: the Gonorrhea Community Action Project in Harlem. J Public Health Management Practice 2002; 8(6):62-68.

Cohall A, Kassotis J, Parks R, Vaughan R, Bannister H, Northridge M. Adolescents in the age of AIDS: myths, misconceptions, and misunderstandings regarding sexually transmitted diseases. J Natl Med Assoc 2001;93(2):64-9.

Armstrong B, Cohall AT, Vaughan RD, Scott M, Tiezzi L, McCarthy JF. Involving men in reproductive health: the Young Men's Clinic. Am J Public Health 1999;89(6):902-5.

Cohall AT, Dickerson D, Vaughan R, Cohall R. Inner-city adolescents' awareness of emergency contraception. J Am Med Womens Assoc 1998;53(5 Suppl 2):258-61.

Training and Education

HHPC Accomplishments Monograph 1991-2005 - Summarizes the accomplishments and current projects of the Harlem Health Promotion Center. (PDF: 2Mb)

Violence and Injury Prevention

Rickert VI, Vaughan RD, Wiemann CM. Adolescent dating violence and date rape. Curr Opin Obstet Gynecol 2002;14(5):495-500.

Cohall A, Cohall R, Bannister H, Northridge M. Love shouldn't hurt: strategies for health care providers to address adolescent dating violence. J Am Med Womens Assoc 1999;54(3):144-8.

Cohall A, Cohall R, Bannister H. Adolescents and violent crime. Curr Opin Pediatr 1998;10(4):356-62.

Harlem Health Promotion Center Mailman School of Public Health of Columbia University 215 West 125th Street, Ground Floor New York, NY 10027		Phone: 646-284-9777 Fax: 646-284-9729 staff@healthyharlem.org
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