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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Mary McCall, MA, MHA, Metropolitan Washington Public Health Association, 2314 19th Street NW #2, Washington, DC 20009, 202 234 1594, cubammc@aol.com, Monica Villalta, MPH, Director of Programs, Mary's Center for Maternal and Child Health, 2333 Ontario Road, NW, Washington, DC 20009, Brenda H. Jones, Parkland Community Center, 3320 Stanton Road, SE, Washington, DC 20020, and Marilyn Seabrooks, MPA, Maternal and Family Health Administration, DC Department of Health, 825 N. Capitol, NE, Washington, DC 20002.
This poster draws from three experiences of the District of Columbia team participating in the Maternal and Child Health Community Leadership Institute sponsored by the American Public Health Association. The presentation summarizes latest research findings on the profound influence of social and economic contextual factors on health behaviors and health status. The ways in which research findings may be applied to change social systems for the benefit of families are addressed.
Mary McCall summarizes Robert D. Putman’s thesis contained in “Bowling Alone: America’s Declining Social Capital.” Putman posits that at the societal level, disparities in income rather than the average income is more important. A review of key data for the District of Columbia indicates that the gap between the 20% of families with the highest income and the 20% of families with the lowest income increased substantially between 1979 and 1999.
“Social Capital, Social Change” by Monica Villalta further explores the social environment as a determinant of health by looking at interactions with family, friends, coworkers, and others in the community; institutions; cultural customs, and religious beliefs. She also provides a digest of lessons learned over the past fifteen years from a community-based health center serving Latino families.
“Community Action: Strengthening Families” by Brenda Jones focuses on the development of an annual District of Columbia conference planned by the community for the community in which cohesion is built by sharing mutual concerns and solutions to social disintegration. Principles of grass-roots organizing are outlined.
Learning Objectives:
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.