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

Abstract #115666

Yvonne Michael, ScD¹, Mandy Green, MPH², Stephanie Farquhar, PhD², and Noelle Wiggins, MSPH³. (1) Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Oregon Health and Sciences University, 3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Rd, CB 669, Portland, OR 97239-3098, (2) School of Community Health, Portland State University, PO Box 751, Portland, OR 97207-0751, 503.725.5167, mandyg@pdx.edu, (3) Community Capacitation Center, Multnomah County Health Department, 10317 E. Burnside St., Portland, OR 97216

This presentation will describe an academic and public health partnership designed to increase the social capital of members of the African American and Latino communities in Multnomah County, Oregon. Poder es Salud/Power for Health, one of the community-based intervention projects funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is directed by a steering committee that is involved in all aspects of the research and intervention and includes members from the Multnomah County Health Department, Emmanuel Community General Services, the Latino Network, Oregon Health and Sciences University, Portland State University School of Community Health, and seven Community Health Workers (CHWs) who are members of the participating communities. Project partners defined social capital as a culturally-specific resource, including civic engagement, reciprocity, and social support, that enables these communities to address local health concerns. A survey was administered to 171 adults randomly selected from the five participating sub-communities (4 church-based organizations and one geographical community) to assess social capital and individual-level general health. In addition, in-depth interviews with community members were conducted to contribute to a deeper understanding of the community-level processes that increase levels of social capital. This presentation will share results from the survey and interviews, including the finding that the African American church-based groups reported high levels of civic engagement and reciprocity compared to the Latino church-based and geographic groups, but lower levels of instrumental social support. Within communities, we observed differences in social capital by gender, age, and self-reported financial security, but no differences by level of education.

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