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

Abstract #68299

Michele A. Kelley, ScD, MSW¹, Rise Jones, PhD, MS², Noel Chavez, PhD, RD¹, Marilyn Willis, RN MS³, and Swapna. V Sawardekar, MBBS⁴. (1) School of Public Health, University of Illinois at Chicago, 1603 W. Taylor Street, Chicago, IL 60612-4394, 312 413-3225, makelley@uic.edu, (2) Health Research and Policy Centers, University of Illinois at Chicago, 850 W. Jackson Blvd., Chicago, IL 60607, (3) The International Center for Health Leadership Development, University of Illinois at Chicago, 1603 W. Taylor Street, Chicago, IL 60612, (4) University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public health, 1603, West Taylor Street,(M/C 923), Chicago, IL 60612

Community-based health promotion that addresses disparities in socially disadvantaged populations is increasingly using local social structures to translate health knowledge, enhance readiness for change and support health behaviors. Social capital is an evolving concept in public health that holds promise to increase our understanding of this community level change. This presentation will discuss how social capital is understood in community settings in terms of building trust, supporting positive norms and facilitating action to promote health. Based on literature review and an inquiry into health programs in African-American and Latino communities, innovative program evaluation questions and indicators are proposed. An evaluation question might address how community institutions such as churches, bodegas, and cafes can foster trust in health promotion messages. Other questions can explore how community organizations use collective action to facilitate direct access to health resources (obtaining mammograms, HIV testing). Indicators of how social capital may operate in health promotion might include: resident identification of and referral to a trusted health resource in their community; creation of new opportunities and social settings for residents to reflect upon and consider their own health and health behaviors; emergence of local leadership and community participation around health promotion activities; shared awareness of critical health issues through health messages consistent with cultural life. By using such questions and indicators, we can begin to understand how indigenous resources can be effectively employed in health promotion efforts; how they build community in the process, and how they can be strengthened to sustain long-term community health.

Learning Objectives:

• To be able to describe how the evolving concept of social capital is understood in community settings
• To be able to discuss the utility of social capital in describing the content and outcomes of community health promotion programs
• To discuss potential indicators derived from academic - community partnerships

Keywords: Evaluation, Community-Based Health Promotion

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.