Developing program infrastructure for community health promotion and education in African American communities

Issues: There is very little strategic planning at the local level related to health promotion and disease prevention, especially for population-based health issues regarding disparities in cancer and cardiovascular disease. Many local organizations that serve African Americans participate in program implementation, but their involvement is in response to a state agency's request for proposals that are categorical and unlikely to contribute to development of a basic public health-oriented infrastructure that can enhance community response to continually evolving health issues affecting African Americans.

Description: This poster session will address the skills building intervention, “Program Infrastructure and Management for Community Health Promotion and Education”, that is designed to build the capacity of community-based organizations to develop health program infrastructure for cancer and cardiovascular disease prevention. Using a planned approach, participants practice skills of defining/assessing a community's health problems/needs from a national, state, and local level perspective; analyzing governmental health policies, setting goals and objectives, developing and implementing action plan/strategies, and evaluating results.

Lessons Learned: Utilizing a program planning process can improve community-based health education programs because change may be difficult both on a personal and organizational level. Empirical evaluation data from similar interventions using a planned approach to program planning have indicated that approximately 83% of participants agree that utilizing a systematic process enhanced their ability to more effectively plan and manage health promotion initiatives.

Recommendations: When developing or enhancing a community health promotion and education program, whether at the national, state, or local level, a planned approach is essential for success.