The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #59860

Amy Schulz, PhD¹, Srimathi Kannan, PhD², Barbara A. Israel, DrPH¹, Mary Koch³, Paul Max⁴, and Carmen Stokes, NP⁵. (1) Health Behavior and Health Education, University of Michigan, School of Public Health, 5134 SPH II, 1420 Washington Heights, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, 734-647-0221, ajschulz@umich.edu, (2) Department of Environmental Health Sciences, University of Michigan School of Public Health Human Nutrition Program, 1420 Washington Heights, School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, (3) Brightmoor Community Center, 14451 Burt Road, Detroit, MI 48223, (4) Detroit Department of Health, 1151 Taylor Bldg #4, Detroit, MI 48202, (5) University of Detroit Mercy, 14350 Warwick, Detroit, MI 48223

In this presentation, we will describe the community based participatory process used to design the Healthy Environments Partnership (HEP) survey instrument. Building on the conceptual framework described in the previous presentation, we will describe the development of a focus group protocol designed to elicit community members’ perceptions of their physical and social environments, and the key themes that emerged from those focus groups. Next we will describe the collaborative process used to engage community members, health care practitioners and academic researchers in the translation of those themes into conceptual categories and items to be included in a random-sample community survey conducted by HEP. Processes used to engage diverse members of the study team, including representatives from community based organizations, health providers, and academic researchers, in the design of the survey instrument will be described. In particular, the presentation will focus on contributions of various members of the partnership to the survey design, as well as strategies for addressing challenges associated with the participatory design of this survey instrument.

Learning Objectives:

• Participants will be able to describe a participatory process that can be used to integrate community members' in-depth understanding of their environments with a body of empirical research and coneptual models that link social and physical contexts to health.

Keywords: Community-Based Partnership, Participatory Research

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.