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

Abstract #69684

Kaia Gallagher, PhD, Center for Research Strategies, 225 East 16th Avenue, Suite 1150, Denver, CO 80203, (303) 860-1705, Kaia.Gallagher@crsllc.org, Doug Easterling, PhD, Center for Study of Social Issues, University of North Carolina- Greensboro, P.O. Box 26170, 41 McNutt Building, Greensboro, NC 27402, and Dora Lodwick, PhD, Reft Institute, 897 East Panama Drive, Suite 204, Littleton, CO 80121.

The defining feature of a “community-based” approach to health promotion is the active role given to community residents in setting health priorities, in deciding which programs will be established, in determining how those programs will operate, and in evaluating results. This session will summarize the findings from a soon-to-published book entitled Promoting Health at the Community Level, which compiles the evaluation results from seven multi-site community-based health promotion initiatives funded by The Colorado Trust. These initiatives were implemented in Colorado over an 8-year period during the 1990s, and cover topics as diverse as teen pregnancy prevention, school health, healthy communities, home visitation and volunteer-programs for rural seniors. The seven examples provide a rich, experiential base for understanding the implementation and evaluation challenges posed by community-based health promotion projects. The session will describe cross-site findings and evaluation results, focusing on changes in community capacity that occurred under the initiatives. Effects observed included: knowledge and skills development, growth in leadership abilities, opportunities for collective efficacy, increases in social capital and the promotion of a culture of openness and learning. Given the importance of engaging communities as partners in health promotion efforts and the practical difficulties often encountered in doing so, this session offers concrete examples as to how these projects can be organized, implemented and evaluated to promote effective health promotion projects in which communities are offered an authentic role, one likely to create a broader momentum for health status improvements.

Learning Objectives:

At the conclusion of the session, the participant in this session will be able to:
• To synthesize lessons learned in the implementation and evaluation of seven community-based health promotion initiatives
• To identify outcome measures of community capacity building, infrastructure development and increases in social capital
• To define meaningful roles for community stakeholders in health promotion projects.

Keywords: Community-Based Health Promotion, Community Capacity

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: The Colorado Trust
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.

Handout (.ppt format, 72.0 kb)