C.H.E.E.R. - COMMUNITY HEALTH THROUGH ENGAGEMENT AND ENVIRONMENTAL RENEWAL

The CHEER project originated from meetings with city residents who defined their key community needs as blight and children’s future success. CHEER builds on observational studies demonstrating that youth risk behaviors are associated with family and neighborhood adversities. Multiple studies have built a solid research base to inform our understanding of the many upstream social determinants that contribute to poor health and increased health disparities. Altering the future trajectories of vulnerable urban youth requires multilevel efforts that influence both family and community systems.

In this 5-year project, we will recruit parent-youth pairs to examine (and aim to improve) adversities at the family level (e.g., maternal stress, depression, and parenting practices) and community level (e.g., neighborhood disadvantage and decay, and social isolation), testing their independent and combined effects, including possible synergies of these interventions, on our primary outcomes of improved social norms, social cohesion, and collective efficacy, reduced early and risky sex, and externalizing and internalizing behaviors among youth.

The Family System Intervention will be an individually tailored and personally paced intervention facilitated by Community Health Advisors. Goals are to enhance maternal coping and emotional regulation, positively impact parenting practices and parent-child communication, and reduce family conflict.

The Community System Intervention will offer microgrants for greening vacant, unkempt lots through community-driven projects (e.g., gardens, picnic areas, and fitness equipment).