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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Azzie Young, PhD, MPA¹, John Auerbach, MBA², Sharon Callender, RN, MPH¹, and Marian Knapp³. (1) Mattapan Community Health Center, 1425 Blue Hill Avenue, Boston, MA 02126, 617/898-9090, younga@matchc.org, (2) Boston Public Health Commission, 1010 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston, MA 02118, (3) Simmons College and Partners HealthCare, 6 Bellingham Street, Newton, MA 02461

Since 1997, Mattapan Community Health Center, a Boston area Community Health Center, has been bringing together a largely African American community to talk about and exchange information on its health by using its Community Health Report Card. The Report Card serves as the centerpiece of the Health Care Revival Initiative, a faith-based, data-driven, community outreach process. The driving force of the Annual outdoor Health Care Revival is a Community Steering Committee composed of community health advocates, and business, church and community leaders. The primary goals of the Revival are to improve health, decrease health disparities, and build and sustain community partners. Early detection, disease prevention, and personal health care management are major foci during Revival Meetings. Screening activities and dissemination of health information are fully integrated with inspirational singing, testimonies and scripture readings.

The Annual Community Health Report Card for the service area features key community health data and shows how the health center is addressing the community's health problems. Specifically, grades are given for 14 health indicators on topics such as child health, adolescent health, and the health status of adults targeting cancer mortality rates, diabetes mortality rates, and heart disease mortality rates. The Community Health Report Card serves as an empowerment tool for families in this underserved Boston community. This paper will provide detailed information on Health Care Revival processes, and on the indicators and grades presented in the 2006 Community Health Report Card, and the empowerment measures observed in 2005 – 2006. Key partnerships will also be described.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participants will be able to

• Develop a process for effective health promotion and disease prevention.
• Describe how community health report cards provide user-friendly data, and programs and services on cancer, heart disease, women's health and more.
• Discuss community feedback and input for community health improvements.
• Develop partnerships to support data collection, analysis and distribution.

Keywords: Community-Based Health Promotion, Community Health Centers

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered