Recorded presentation

Rachel Davis, MSW, Larry Cohen, MSW, Danice Cook, BA, Colleen Floyd-Carroll, MPH, MSW, and Juliet Stein. Prevention Institute, 265 29th Street, Oakland, CA 94611, 510-444-7738, rachel@preventioninstitute.org

Poor health and safety outcomes are disproportionately high among people of color in the United States. With an increased recognition of health disparities, there has been an emphasis on treatment and intervention. There is also a need to prevent health disparities before the onset of injury, illness, or death. Such an approach includes creating healthier living environments.

T.H.R.I.V.E. (Tool for Health and Resilience In Vulnerable Environments) is a research-based tool that can help close the health gap by identifying community factors that could be addressed in program and policy development and service delivery to reduce the incidence of such issues as violence, cancers, HIV/AIDS, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes in communities of color. Developed by Prevention Institute for the Federal Office of Minority Health, THRIVE includes twenty factors in four focus areas: Built Environment, Social Capital, Services and Institutions, and Structural Factors. The tool can be used for needs assessment, strategy development and planning, and/or evaluation with community members, practitioners and services providers, and local decision makers. Once priority factors have been identified, communities need support in strengthening them. A set of preliminary guidelines for program and policy development provides communities with concrete examples of policy and programmatic approaches to improving community conditions in support of improved health and safety outcomes.

This session will outline the environmental factors measured by T.H.R.I.V.E., describe how the tool and accompanying materials can support community-based approaches to reducing health disparities, and provide an overview of the T.H.R.I.V.E. preliminary guidelines.

Learning Objectives:

• To provide examples of how community-level data on environmental factors can guide communities in formulating programs and policies that will reduce health disparities.
• To provide an overview of how environmental factors can negatively impact health and safety outcomes in communities of color.
• To provide an overview of community approaches to foster healthier environments and close the health gap.

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.

Recorded presentation