Assessing Resource Environments to Target Prevention Interventions in Community Chronic Disease Control David Sloane, PhD Lori Nascimento, MPH Gwendolyn Flynn LaVonna Lewis, PhD Joyce Jones Guinyard, DC Lark Galloway-Gilliam, MPA Allison Diamant, MD, MSHS Antronette Yancey, MD, MPH Abstract: The recent emphasis in public health and medicine on the environmental deter- minants of chronic illness has created the need for a more comprehensive way to assess barriers and facilitators of healthy living. This paper reports on the approach taken by a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)-funded project whose goal is to reduce disparities in diabetes and cardiovascular disease in Los Angeles’ African American communi- ties. Findings from this community-based participatory research project suggest that while location is an important variable in evaluating nutritional and physical activity resources, quality and price considerations are at least as useful. We argue that every community or neighborhood is located within a resource environment for medical care, recreation, food, and other health-promoting or health-compromising goods and services that affect the lives and health of its residents. Key words: Community health assessment, community-based participatory research, resource environments, nutrition, physical activity, African American, Black, minority, health promotion. A frican Americans in Los Angeles County suffer disproportionately from car- diovascular disease and diabetes, with prevalence rates twice those of Whites. African American adults experience very high rates of overweight and obesity, with dramatic and rapid increases in prevalence, from 59% in 1997 to 66% in 2005. 1 In the South Service Planning Area (SPA), the region of the county with the greatest Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved 17 (2006): 146–159. DAVID SLOANE is a Professor in the School of Policy, Planning, and Development at the University of Southern California (USC) where LAVONNA LEWIS and LORI NASCIMENTO are also affiliated. GWENDOLYN FLYNN, JOYCE JONES GUINYARD and LARK GALLOWAY-GILLIAM are affiliated with Community Health Councils, Inc. in Los Angeles. ALLISON DIAMANT and ANTRONETTE YANCEY are affiliated with the University of California, Los Angeles. David Sloane can be reached at dsloane@usc.edu.