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

Abstract #72898

Concepcion James, BA¹, Bobbi Hicks, None¹, Angelica Matamoros¹, and Kenneth Knight, BA². (1) Contra Costa Health Services, Bay Point Family Health Center, 215 Pacifica Avenue, Bay Point, CA 94565, 925-427-8297, cjames@hsd.co.contra-costa.ca.us, (2) Contra Costa Health Services, Contra Costa Health Services, 597 Center Ave, Suite 325, Martinez, CA 94553

This workshop describes how a local health department and a collaborative of community residents and grassroots organizations partnered to identify and respond to pressing community needs. Contra Costa Health Services and Bay Point Partnership for Public’s Health will present a case study describing our three-year effort to improve community health in the East Contra Costa county community of Bay Point. Bay Point is a community in transition. First generation Hispanic immigrants make up 40% of the population, 25% do not have high school degrees and 65% of the children qualify for reduced school lunches. This presentation outlines our approach to incorporate meaningful community leadership and advocacy in assessing and developing interventions to respond to resident-defined health priorities. Our promotoras and resident leaders will describe strategies used to engage community including: 1) training residents to conduct, evaluate and write up findings from a neighborhood survey; 2) organizing through focus groups and community forums to identify health priorities and develop action plans for specific neighborhoods; 3) establishing a Promotora program at the health department’s local community clinic, which trains neighborhood leaders to identify the health education needs of the Latino community and 4) promoting practices that develop resident skills to be effective change agents. The California Endowment funds this project through its statewide Partnership for Public’s Health initiative. The purpose is to help redesign local and state-level infrastructures so that public health efforts reflect community-based priorities.

Learning Objectives:

At the conclusion of this session, participants will be able to:
• Describe at least three strategies for developing resident skills to be more effective advocates and agents of change for improving health in their community;
• Discuss at least two approaches that are effective in working with transitional and diverse communities, particularly mono-lingual Spanish speaking populations; and
• Describe at least two challenges to working effectively to reduce health disparities in under-served communities.

Keywords: Community Health Promoters,

Related Web page: None

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
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.