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

Abstract #66316

Vivian Chavez, DrPH, Health Education, San Francisco State University, 1600 Holloway Ave, San Francisco, CA 94132, 415-338-1307, vchavez@sfsu.edu

“Introduction to Public Health & Community Organizing” is a gateway course to professional socialization in the Masters in Public Health (MPH) program at SFSU. The purpose of the class is to provide basic knowledge and understanding of the principles and practice of Community-Based Public Health (CBPH). This course has been revised with a grant from San Francisco State University’s Multicultural Task Force to be grounded in an explicit cultural competency framework reflective of working within diverse urban communities. Specific multicultural learning objectives include: 1. Identifying student’s value systems and styles of creative expression as well as those of other cultural groups; 2. Developing the “cultural competency” necessary for effective interpersonal and intercultural group interactions. 3. Recognizing concerns regarding cultural stereotypes and addressing them. 4. Developing multiple sociocultural participation skills in order to be effective in our multicultural communities, nation & world. The trilogy of race/ethnicity, racism and privilege are underscored not because they are more important than other dimensions, such as social class or gender, but because they are often neglected areas of study.

Learning Objectives:

By the end of this session participants will learn how to: 1. provide MPH students with basic knowledge and understanding of the principles and practice of Community Based Public Health using pedagogy grounded in cultural competency, empowerment and participation. 2. identify three educational innovations that thread an ecological model with cultural competence, community organizing and community building skills. Specifically,
• “eye experience” (an instructional techniques used in community building and communication);
• “free-write” (group discussion via writing that gives the silence necessary to think and reflect upon on texts and ideas); and
• “My community profile” (the opportunity to learn about community diagnosis and asset mapping by describing a community of student’s choice).

Keywords: Community Involvement, Workforce

Related Web page: www.sfsu.edu/~hed/

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: San Francisco State University
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.