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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Terrance Albrecht, PhD¹, Lisa Berry-Bobovski², Peter Lichtenberg, PhD³, Willie Underwood, MD², Louis Penner, PhD¹, and William Stengle, MPH². (1) Karmanos Cancer Institute, Family Medicine/WSU School of Medicine, 534 Hudson Webber Cancer Research Center, 4100 John R Street, Detroit, MI 48201, 313-576-8262, albrecht@karmanos.org, (2) Karmanos Cancer Institute, Hudson Webber Cancer Research Center, 4100 John R Street, Detroit, MI 48201, (3) Institute of Gerontology, Wayne State University, 87 East Ferry, Detroit, MI 48201

Our Community Network Program (CNP) is a five-year NCI-funded grant to reduce cancer health disparities among older, underserved, African American men and women in Detroit. This community-based participatory research and intervention effort has engaged community representatives from 24 cancer and aging organizations (treatment, advocacy, support) and for the first time, a partnership among these groups. Partnerships must be actively integrated and coordinated in order to mobilize action. The extent to which this complex effort is effective must be evaluated against measurable indicators. Hence, in order to develop our capacity and build effective working relationships, we are conducting a network analysis of our community partner ties. This information is enabling us to develop a quantifiable “resource exchange” network that has definable characteristics (parameters) that can be assessed and compared against benchmarks over time. We are measuring several structural parameters (constructs) of our growing interdependent web of community ties, including size, density/integration, reciprocity, multiplexity, and distance/zones. The proposed presentation includes: a review of relevant community network theory and measurement techniques; a report of the on-going results of our longitudinal CNP partner network analysis and how it is helping us develop more effective community partnerships (that can be measured and formally evaluated); a description of the value of this information as feedback to the community partners to help them better visualize the resource potential that exists in their interrelationships; and a summary of the implications of this applied theory/research approach for addressing cancer health disparities at the community level.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant (learner) in this session will be able to

• Define (in conceptual and operational terms) at least five key constructs used in network analysis
• Discuss why network analytic techniques and findings are useful for increasing community partners' collective awareness of potential resources and mobilization opportunities.
• Develop a general plan for assessing the network structure of a local community partnership effort or coalition.

Related Web page: https://www.karmanos.org/CNPDetroit/

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No