Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #111223

Diana Sturges, Jiann-Ping Hsu School of Public Health, Georgia Southern University, P.O.Box 8076, Statesboro, GA 30460, 912 681 5456, dsturges@georgiasouthern.edu

A study circle is group of 5-20 people who agree to meet together several times to discuss, learn and deal with a social or political issue in a democratic and collaborative way. Communities all over US (Colorado, Ohio, New York, Minnesota, Illinois, and Maine etc.) are involved in Study Circles that meet for several sessions and engage in a dialogue about diversity, education, racism, youth, neighborhoods etc. However, health related topics have a few representations as well and include alcohol abuse, diabetes education, dementia and health issues for the elderly. The purpose of the research was to explore how the Study Circle model relates to Health Promotion Theories and if it is an effective tool to deal with various health issues. The research looked at individual, interpersonal and community level health promotion theories and contrasted them to the SC model. Although it does have an individual level component, the SC model is mostly focused on the community as a whole. Since it emphasizes participation, empowerment and community mobilization, it is closely related to the Community Organization theory. It also has a high potential for formulation of healthy policies and programs, thus overlapping with the Organizational Change Theory. The findings revealed that Study Circles could work well for issues related to diseases caused by lifestyle, where personal and community responsibilities are necessary. A Study Circle format allows people in the community to be individually and collectively involved in learning, identifying health factors and priorities, and in shaping and securing health actions.

Learning Objectives:

At the conclusion of the program, participants will be able to
• Understand what study circles are and how does the Study Circle model relates to health promotion
• Understand how effective are Study Circles.
• Recognise the policy implications for future health promotion programs.

Keywords: Health Promotion, Community Building

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.