Holly Felix, MPA¹, M. Kate stewart, MD, MPH¹, James M. Raczynski, PhD¹, and Thomas A. Bruce, MD². (1) College of Public Health, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, 4301 West Markham, Slot 820, Little Rock, AR 72205, 501-526-6626, felixholly@uams.edu, (2) UAMS College of Public Health, 4301 W. Markham, Slot 820, Little Rock, AR 72205-7199

More and more, studies are showing the importance of community-based programs and research in promoting healthy behaviors and improving health status. With that knowledge in hand, the first College of Public Health in the state of Arkansas was recently established at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences with principles of community-based public health at its core. The College was established with funding from the tobacco Master Settlement Agreement, based on a public referendum, allowing it to be unusually mission-driven. This presentation will first describe the importance of community participation in program development, implementation, and research efforts. It will then describe several policies that have been incorporated in the College of Public Health’s governance and structure to facilitate the use of community-based public health principles in teaching, research, and service activities of faculty, staff and students. These policies and procedures represent important building blocks on which the College can work to realize its mission of helping Arkansans improve their health, and create new models for replication elsewhere. Finally, the presentation will reflect how the College of Public Health has tried to implement these policies in the selection and preparation of communities as partners, the orientation and engagement of our students and faculty to community-based concepts and approaches, and to the incorporation of local public health practitioners into the model

Learning Objectives: Learning Objectives

• Discuss the importance of community-based public health
• Describe the development of the Arkansas College of Public Health
• List policies with promote community-based public health principles in teaching, research, and service

Keywords: Community-Based Public Health, Public Health Education

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.