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

Abstract #59901

Sheryl Weir, MPH¹, Barbara A. Israel, DrPH², Amy Schulz, PhD², Joan Shields, RN³, and Srimathi Kannan, PhD⁴. (1) Department of Health Behavior and Health Education, University of Michigan, School of Public Health, 1420 Washington Heights, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, 734 615 2695, ssweir@umich.edu, (2) Health Behavior and Health Education, University of Michigan, School of Public Health, 1420 Washington Heights, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, (3) Henry Ford Health System, 1552 Pinecrest, Ferndale, MI 48220, (4) 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

In this presentation, we will describe the development and implementation of a plan for dissemination of results from the Healthy Environments Partnership (HEP), a multi-method community study, to a broad community audience. The presentation will describe the engagement of community-based organizations, health care providers and academic researchers in the design, implementation, and dissemination of results from a multi-method study to examine social determinants of cardiovascular disease. We will describe decisions regarding the multiple audiences for these results (e.g., community residents, policy makers, health care providers, community organizers) and the development of multiple strategies to disseminate results to those audiences. Furthermore, we will discuss strategies developed to encourage translation of the study results into multi-level interventions designed to address aspects of the social and physical environments that contribute to racial and socioeconomic disparities in cardiovascular disease. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, we will discuss the efforts of the Partnership to facilitate the active participation and influence of community residents and representatives in the dissemination of study results and their translation into intervention strategies by and for the communities involved in the study.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe a participatory process for developing strategies to disseminate study findings to multiple, diverse audiences for the purpose of developing multi-level community-driven interventions.

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.