Boston University School of Public Health has partnered with the Boston Public Health Commission and the Boston Housing Authority (BHA) to create neighborhood and system-wide strategies to help address chronic disease inequities that affect black and Latino residents of public and subsidized housing in two low-income neighborhoods, Roxbury and Dorchester. Boston REACH (Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health) is a four-year initiative funded through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Our staff serve as project evaluators, focused on studying the impact of the main interventions designed to:

1

Improve successful implementation of BHA’s existing tobacco-free policy in all BHA housing developments

2

Implement a geographically targeted strategy to decrease menthol cigarette use in Roxbury and Dorchester

3

Increase access to healthy beverages, including tap water, as an alternative to soda and other sugar-sweetened beverages

Boston University School of Public Health has partnered with the Boston Public Health Commission and the Boston Housing Authority (BHA) to create neighborhood and system-wide strategies to help address chronic disease inequities that affect black and Latino residents of public and subsidized housing in two low-income neighborhoods, Roxbury and Dorchester. Boston REACH (Racial and Ethic Approaches to Community Health) is a four-year initiative funded through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Our staff serve as project evaluators, focused on studying the impact of the main interventions designed to:

  • Improve successful implementation of BHA’s existing tobacco-free policy in all BHA housing developments
  • Implement a geographically targeted strategy to decrease menthol cigarette use in Roxbury and Dorchester
  • Increase access to healthy beverages, including tap water, as an alternative to soda and other sugar-sweetened beverages

Project Impact

BHA is using the information from surveys conducted as part of this project to

  • Inform residents about the no-smoking policy
  • Provide a vehicle to report policy violations, and
  • Create a process to address policy violations quickly

These improvements aim to create a healthier, smoke-free environment within the neighborhood’s public and subsidized housing.

Project Resources

Visit our CISWH PROJECT RESOURCES to see all available project resources.

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Boston REACH (Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health) is a four-year initiative funded through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.