The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #59545

Sheryl Weir, MPH¹, Barbara A. Israel, DrPH², Amy Schulz, PhD², Joan Shields, RN³, and Srimathi Kannan, PhD⁴. (1) Department of Health Behavior and Health Education, University of Michigan, School of Public Health, 1420 Washington Heights, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, 734 615 2695, ssweir@umich.edu, (2) Health Behavior and Health Education, University of Michigan, School of Public Health, 1420 Washington Heights, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, (3) Henry Ford Health System, 1552 Pinecrest, Ferndale, MI 48220, (4) Department of Environmental Health Sciences, University of Michigan School of Public Health Human Nutrition Program, 1420 Washington Heights, School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, MI 48109

This presentation will describe the use of community-based participatory process as part of the Healthy Environments Partnership to develop and implement a dissemination plan to both inform and engage community residents and policy makers in dialogue about the implications understanding of relationships between social and physical environments and cardiovascular risk factors. The presentation will describe multiple audiences for these efforts (e.g., community residents, policy makers, health care providers, community organizers) and the community-based participatory process used to develop multiple strategies to disseminate results to those audiences. Furthermore, we will discuss strategies developed to encourage translation of the study results into multi-level interventions designed to address aspects of the social and physical environments that contribute to racial and socioeconomic disparities in cardiovascular disease. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, we will discuss the efforts of the Partnership to facilitate the active participation and influence of community residents and representatives in the dissemination of study results and their translation into intervention strategies by and for the communities involved in the study.

Learning Objectives:

• Participants will be able to describe a participatory process to develop a plan to dissemination study results and engage community residents and policy makers in the development of strategies to address social determinants of lifestyle and other factors related to cardiovascular disease risk.

Keywords: Community-Based Public Health, Community Health Planning

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.