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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Denise Torres, LCSW, Doctoral Program in Social Welfare, Graduate Center, City University of New York at the Hunter College School of Social Work, 129 East 79th Street, New York, NY 10021, 718-680-7879, hamtor@netzero.com and Douglas Berman, MSJ, Director of Policy, Care for the Homeless, 12 West 21st Street, New York, NY 10010.

Coalitions have long been critical actors in advocating for and assuring the health care rights of vulnerable populations. As the policy landscape becomes increasingly hostile to entitlement spending, coalitions will face greater challenges to ensure that initiatives with policy implications not only fulfill their promise of serving those most in need, but do not endanger their wellbeing. Even while coping with changing policies and reduced funding, community-based providers likely may continue to be the most effective voices of their clients/patients.

This exploratory qualitative study describes the efforts of the New York Providers for Health Care for the Homeless (PHCH) over the last decade and their role in assuring that the health needs of the homeless are not jeopardized. PHCH will be viewed within the coalition-building literature and used to demonstrate key characteristics and components of successful collaborative efforts. The individual and organizational barriers to developing and sustaining community-based coalitions will be explored and insight into adaptive strategies identified.

The study will demonstrate the value of coalitions in bringing disparate interests and disciplines together to identify a common public interest ideology and give voice to vulnerable consumers. Furthermore, the case study will serve as an example for 1) creating and sustaining a local organization-based coalition 2) developing a relationship with policy-makers to assure that their expertise was used in decision-making affecting the people they serve and 3) promoting policies to increase access to health care for vulnerable populations, in particular those experiencing homelessness.

Learning Objectives: 1)Articulate the value of coalitions in public health, with an emphasis on cross disciplinary advocacy capacity building 2)List the ten (1