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

Abstract #73033

Leslie D. Kaufman, PhD, Bureau of Family Health, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, 2 Lafayette Street, 18th floor, box 34A, New York, NY 10007, 212.442.1755, lkaufman@health.nyc.gov

When organizations design health promotion interventions, they often base their decisions on large data sets that describe social problems at a macro level. Those data are certainly essential to conceptualizing programs. But, interventions ultimately take effect at local levels. Programs impact individuals: people who implement them, and people whom they serve. Data cannot account for crucial elements of individual experience, and reliance solely on them for program design can lead to programs that overlook complex social and cultural realities. It is therefore critical to involve community health workers in program development. They interact most closely with the community, and have practical experience to ensure programs are realistic and applicable to audiences and their communities.

In Healthy Start Brooklyn Initiative (HSB), a federally-funded program to improve infant and family health outcomes, health workers have played a crucial role in forging the program, defining audiences and interventions. HSB researchers have collaborated with them on the program evaluation, employing participatory research and ethnographic methods as well as conventional evaluation methodologies. That collaboration has provided rich understandings of HSB's implementation, participants' social and cultural practices, and the community's realities. Program research has also provided valuable insights into how staff’s perceptions about pregnancy, childbirth, and child rearing affect recruitment and interactions with participants. Overall, staff involvement in the evaluation has encouraged a greater stake in program goals, ensured ongoing program improvement, and expanded the expertise and knowledge of health workers and researchers alike. This paper explores that collaborative evaluation experience and its implications for program implementation and advancement.

Learning Objectives:

At the conclusion of the session, participants will be able to:
• Discuss participatory research and ethnographic approaches for use in the evaluation of health promotion intervention programs.
• Discuss and analyze community health workers' (public health advisors, outreach staff, and case managers) roles as key collaborators in program research and evaluation, as well as program development.
• Identify and delineate the benefits and challenges of participatory research and staff collaboration in complex health intervention programs that encompass multiple services, organizations, and sites.

Keywords: Community Health Advisor, Participatory Research

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.