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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Eleanor S. Johnson, RN, BSN and Kathleen M. Russell, DNS, RN. School of Nursing, Community Health Clinical Nurse Specialist Program, Indiana University, 1317 W. University, Muncie, IN 47303, 765-287-1503, Elejohns@iupui.edu

Social justice is a key principle of public health. However, social justice is inconsistently used when framing community health issues for vulnerable populations. The purpose of this paper is to propose a social justice framework that incorporates community-based participation to both identify root causes of disparity in infant mortality in Indiana and to plan and evaluate strategies that develop local leadership, encourage meaningful participation, and increase partnerships among business, social services, government, health systems and neighborhood organizations. Three intervention strategies and their impact on the communities' ability to address the issue of infant mortality are described and the evaluation, which uses mixed methods of data collection, will be presented. The intermediate outcome, increasing social capital, is measured by frequency and type of community members taking on leadership roles, number of community members participating in meetings, and action taken on community based rather than healthcare provider-driven interventions. The application and analysis of the social justice framework will provide answers to important questions about which strategies may be used by public health nurses to address the underlying problems of infant mortality in a particular area.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify the components of a social justice framework to examine infant mortality disparity.
• Define and measure the participatory and capacity building elements for each phase of the framework.
• Utilize the framework in public health practice, research, and policy.

Keywords: Social Justice, Infant Mortality

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered

Handout (.pdf format, 111.5 kb)