The Healthy Los Nietos partnership between the Los Nietos School District and PIH Health was recognized in August of 2016 as a successful case study in a nationally circulated report by the Health Research & Educational Trust (HRET), which showed alliances between hospitals and schools are successful in teaching students to live healthier lifestyles.
In 2011, the District and PIH created the Healthy Los Nietos collaborative to curb childhood obesity and strengthen nutrition and physical education. Students surveyed during the 2014-15 school year said they were more knowledgeable about how to stay healthy, watched less television and were more active.
Healthy Los Nietos was highlighted in “Creating Effective Hospital-Community Partnerships to Build a Culture of Health,” a report shared by HRET with healthcare providers across the country.
“To have the Los Nietos School District showcased by a prestigious institution like the Health Research and Educational Trust is an incredible accolade for our community,” Los Nietos Superintendent Jonathan Vasquez said. “District employees work tirelessly with PIH and parents to ensure our students are getting a healthy start in life.”
The Healthy Los Nietos collaborative will also be featured in an article to be published in Hospital and Health Networks Magazine, which is read by healthcare professionals throughout the country.
The collaborative teaches students about the importance of good nutrition, physical activity and healthy habits by holding weekly assemblies at Los Nietos schools. The assemblies remind students about the importance of wearing seat belts, teeth brushing and hand-washing. Each school also will benefit from nine health education classes by the school year.
The health education assemblies are led by physicians, undergraduates from Cal State University campuses, graduate students and PIH community health educators.
Since Healthy Los Nietos’ inception, the school district serves diverse, healthy food options at cafeteria salad bars and for classroom breakfasts. Additionally, PIH Health nurses do routine checkups with students experiencing elevated blood pressure or other high-risk factors.
Healthy Los Nietos’ Promotoras de Salud program trains parents as community health promoters who champion wellness initiatives, enhance school wellness policies and educate families about healthy living.
Healthy Los Nietos has grown into a thriving community collaborative that includes City of Santa Fe Springs, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, THINK Together after-school programs, the Activate Whittier collaborative, AltaMed, Dairy Council of California and the Los Angeles County Community Resource Center.
An HLN Community Advisory Board was established in 2013 to sustain the collaborative, evaluate the success of interventions, reach out to the Los Nietos community and secure additional grant funding.
Ricardo Lopez, community health education manager at PIH Health, essentially serves as the hospital system’s community liaison for the Los Nietos community.
“We are trying to encourage a culture change with Healthy Los Nietos,” Lopez said. “We identified key parents who are leaders of the Parent Teacher Association or just want to get involved to help carry the message to their friends and family.”
Lopez said the collaborative augmented that passion for helping children by making sure parent volunteers are trained in community health education.