MAP-IT means: Mobilize, Assess, Plan, Implement, and Track
To begin to achieve the goal of improving health, a community must develop a strategy. That strategy, to be successful, must be supported by many individuals who are working together.
In much the same way you might map out a trip to a new place, you can use the MAP-IT technique to ‘map out’ the path toward the change you want to see in your community.
For the Session Long Project (SLP) of this course, you will follow one of the following families:

1. A non-English speaking immigrant family. The parents, (a 35-year-old father and 31-year-old mother) have a 1-year-old son. They (the parents) are obese, smokers, alcoholics, and have only a high school education. Due to their weight, the mother has diabetes and high blood pressure, and the father has high blood pressure and kidney disease. The parents are a low-income family with no insurance. You will guide the parents on how to meet the minimum state health requirements for both the child and themselves (i.e., vaccinations, good nutrition, a safe and healthy home environment, etc.).

SLP Module Requirements
You are to use MAP-IT: Mobilize, Assess, Plan, Implement, and Track to respond to this SLP.
Before you begin the SLP please review: Choosing the Right Approach for Health
Steps in MAP-IT are:
• Mobilize individuals and organizations that care about the health of your community into a coalition.
• Assess the areas of greatest need in your community, in this case, assisting new immigrants to access health care], as well as the resources and other strengths that you can tap into in order to address those areas.
• Plan your approach. Start with a vision of where you want the community to be, and then add strategies and action steps to help you achieve that vision. You can be a health educator, a health care provider, a nutritionist, a social worker, etc.
• Implement your plan using concrete action steps that can be monitored and will make a difference.
• Track your progress over time.
Using this MAP-IT approach, a step-by-step, structured plan can be devised to tailor one’s community needs.
The first step in building a healthier community is to mobilize key individuals and organizations to form a community-wide coalition. Most communities already have health departments and other governmental agencies that are responsible for public health services. Many communities also have coalitions of key individuals and organizations that are organized to address specific issues, for example, block associations or neighborhood watch groups. These groups often represent diverse interests and resources for addressing issues that are vital to building and maintaining the health and stability of the entire community. A coalition will often, of course, work with the health department and other health organizations in the community. However, it can also help mobilize a wider range of other resources to address health issues.
SLP Assignment Expectations
For Module 4 you are to complete the following tasks:
Discuss how you will implement your plan using concrete action steps that can be monitored and will make a difference. Discuss how you will track your progress over time. Present any tables or charts if you believe they will assist you in effectively tracking your progress (and of course, the progress of the target family). Does this family need a nutritionist? If so, what type of nutritionist(s) does this family need? How can they locate her/him? How would the service be paid for? What type of information does the nutritionist(s) provide this family with? Provide sufficient detail.