 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
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| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
Jane Peranteau, PhD, Patricia Gail Bray, PhD, Karen J Williams, PhD, and Ilana Reisz, MA. Community Health Assessment, St. Luke's Episcopal Health Charities, 6221 Main Street, Houston, TX 77030, 713-807-0752, janeperanteau@aol.com
St. Luke's Episcopal Health Charities (SLEHC), a nonprofit grantmaking foundation in Houston, establishes initiatives in targeted communities to improve the health of the community and decrease health status inequities. Our initiatives rely on the development of collaboratives that provide community-based wisdom as part of a co-learning process that is empowering and attends to social inequalities. Much of the research on collaboratives stresses the prominent role of technical assistance in building capacity and facilitating empowerment, and the Web is seen as an essential modality in this endeavor. SLEHC, in partnership with the University of Texas School of Public Health, developed the Community Health Information System, an on-line, interactive resource for 57 counties in Texas. The CHIS, a unique repository of health information and community assets linked to spatial maps, provides services essential for community development: 1) provides community health assessments, identifying risk factors and health inequities; 2) creates community data profiles that help establish common understandings of health priorities, enabling communities to better design solutions and influence resource allocation; 3) focuses our Community Outreach Plan, directing us to service organizations, health providers, and educational institutions serving the community; 4) provides community members with a management tool for assessment, planning, grantwriting, service delivery, and community education; 5) facilitates participation and empowerment by helping eliminate power disparities, giving voice to marginalized members. CHIS technical assistance helps build collaborative capacity by integrating a broad range of health information with community knowledge that can benefit the community as a whole.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Advocacy, Assessments
Related Web page: www.slehc.org
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: St. Luke's Episcopal Health Charities
I have a significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.
Relationship: I am a contractor to St. Luke's Episcopal Health Charities.