Kalusugan ng Bayan/Our Health, Our Community is a three-year initiative developed by the South of Market Community Action Network (SOMCAN) to improve the well-being of Filipinos in San Francisco. This initiative is of, by, and for the people! We make sure to address the community’s chronic health issues such as hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, Type 2 diabetes, overweight/obesity, and improve built environment conditions that contribute to these. SOMCAN aims to utilize data-based practices, community engagement, policy advocacy, and coordinate culturally-linguistically relevant physical/wellness activities to make sure that everyone gets the best quality health service and community resources they deserve.
The main goals of the community-based action research project are:
1) To understand the community’s knowledge, attitudes, behaviors, and risk factors related to chronic diseases;
2) To increase community awareness of chronic disease prevention; and
3) To advocate for policy and environmental strategies that support health.
We are funded by the San Francisco Public Health Foundation under the Sugary Drinks Distributor Tax (SDDT) Health Communities Grant Program.