Volume 10 — October 03, 2013
COMMUNITY CASE STUDY
Partnering With Community Institutions to Increase Access to Healthful Foods Across Municipalities
This map shows the percentage of the population for each municipality in suburban Cook County that is below 200% of the federal poverty guidelines and, therefore, the distribution of poverty throughout the jurisdiction. The municipalities that participated in the project are indicated to show their locations within the county. Eight of the 10 municipalities initially participating in the initiative have 31.5% or more of their populations with incomes less than 200% of the federal poverty guidelines. The other 2 municipalities had between 15.8% and 31.4% of their populations with incomes below 200% of the federal poverty guidelines.
Figure 1. Population below 200% of the federal poverty guidelines, Healthy HotSpot Corner Store Initiative, Suburban Cook County, Illinois, 2005–2009 (13). Map created by the Cook County Department of Public Health, Epidemiology Unit. Abbreviation: FPG, federal poverty guidelines.
This figure depicts a flowchart of the Healthy HotSpot initiative process. From February to March 2011, 18 community institutions were contacted to participate in the Healthy HotSpot initiative. Nine of the institutions declined and the other 9 enrolled. From March to May 2011, the 9 community institutions recruited stores into the initiative, but 1 was unsuccessful at recruiting any stores. The other community institutions enrolled at least 1 store each. During May to June 2011, the recruited stores added 6 or more new products. During this time, the community institutions conducted community outreach to share the fact that the stores were adding new products. Two stores did not complete the pilot phase. In June, the remaining 23 stores received payment for completing the pilot phase; two stores chose not to continue with the initiative. From July to August the conversion phase began for 21 stores. Community institutions began to hold in-store events to increase demand for the new healthful products at participating stores. The initiative ended in February 2012, and payment was made to the stores for completing the project.
Figure 2. Recruitment process of the Healthy HotSpot Corner Store Initiative, Suburban Cook County, Illinois, 2011–2012.
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