 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
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| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
Makani Themba-Nixon, The Praxis Project, 1750 Columbia Rd, NW, Second Floor, Washington, DC 20009, (202) 234-5921, mthemba@thepraxisproject.org
Grassroots organizations organizing around issues of social justice & public health face many gaps in the data we need to do our work. This presentation, drawing on experience of The Praxis Project, will focus on what these needs are, innovative ways that groups are meeting these needs, and how these needs can be communicated to and acted upon by public health researchers, agencies, and sponsors.
The Praxis Project is a non-profit organization dedicated to building community for health justice. Praxis' mission is to support and partner with communities to achieve health justice by providing resources and capacity for policy development, advocacy and leadership. Currently, most policymaking focuses on the punishment and surveillance of individuals—often individuals who are poor, disfranchised and/or are people of color. The Praxis Project work with groups to shift the balance toward approaches that address root causes and increase corporate and institutional accountability.
To accomplish this work, Praxis uses innovative participatory approaches that bridge theory, research and action. One challenge is providing technical assistance, which requires resources to provide advocates with information on data, model policy approaches, model legislation and other information as identified in evaluations by staff and advocates. By reflecting on data gaps we face and strategies to address them, we can improve work promoting social justice and public health.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Social Activism, Community-Based Public Health
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.