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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Ellen Lopez, PhD, MPH¹, Julie Ackerman², Janiece Davis², Joanne D'Silva², Zoe Finch², William L. Jeffries, MA³, Douglas Monroe², and Kristina Zachry². (1) University of Florida, 6131 NW 23rd Lane, Gainesville, FL 32606, 352-273-5361, elopez@phhp.ufl.edu, (2) Public Health Programs, University of Florida, 4000 SW 23rd Street, Apt 5-108, Gainesville, FL 32608, (3) Department of Sociology and College of Public Health and Health Professions, University of Florida, Turlington Hall, PO Box 117330, Gainesville, FL 32611-7330

Throughout the spring semester of 2005, 17 MPH students and a rural community center embarked on a collaborative community assessment. The objective was to draw upon the knowledge, skills, and methods the students acquired in the classroom and provide the opportunity to apply them to a real-world situation that would be beneficial to the students, the center, and the rural North Central Florida community it strives to serve. Although it is recognized that course projects enabling students to work “with” communities can help bridge community-academic divides, little is known about the implications of such endeavors.

Within a few months following the assessment, students began inquiring about the impact of their semester-long relationship with the center. To begin to answer this overarching question, and to gain understanding from the perspectives of community members and students, in-depth telephone interviews with community mentors, key-informants, and students were conducted. These interviews provided insight into the extent to which the assessment met hopes and expectations, the usefulness of the assessment findings, feelings about the abrupt conclusion of the project coinciding with the end of the academic term, and the broader dynamics of working within a community-academic partnership.

During this presentation we will provide a brief description of the collaboration developed among center members and graduate students through which they conducted their community assessment. We will then present the major themes and lessons learned through analysis of the qualitative post-assessment interviews. Drawing from these findings we will discuss implications for conducting future community-academic course-based endeavors.

Learning Objectives:

• Understand the rationale for providing both in-class and real world experience for students learning about community assessments
• Describe collaborative relationship forged by students and community center members to conduct the community assessment
• Realize some of the implications for conducting community-academic course-based endeavors.

Keywords: Community Health Assessment, Service Learning

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered