158863 Towards the successful use of local partnerships to reduce health disparity: Lessons learned from a preliminary evaluation of rural Hispanic Health Advisory Committees

Monday, November 5, 2007

Sergio Cristancho, PhD , National Center for Rural Health Professions and Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Illinois College of Medicine at Rockford, Rockford, IL
Karen E. Peters, DrPH , School of Public Health, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL
Marcela Garces, MD, MSPH , National Center for Rural Health Professions, University of Illinois College of Medicine at Rockford, Rockford, IL
Ben Mueller, MS , National Center for Rural Health Professions, University of Illinois College of Medicine at Rockford, Rockford, IL
The success of community-based participatory research approaches to reduce health disparities largely depends upon the successful formation and sustainability of community partnerships. However, little is known regarding the factors that contribute to, or lessen these partnerships' ability to work more effectively. Project EXPORT Center of Excellence in Rural Health formed 10 local partnerships in rural communities of Illinois between 2003 and 2006 with the objective of investigating Hispanic health disparity issues. Using a Community Based Participatory Action Research approach (CBPAR), partnerships have been actively involved in community assessments of health needs, implementation of mini projects to address those needs, and evaluation of numerous components of the process. Results from a structure-process-outcomes evaluation of eight EXPORT-formed local Hispanic Health Advisory Committees (HHACs) are presented using survey data that was collected from active HHAC members six months after they started the mini projects implementation. Evaluation results suggest that HHACs have a good representation of academic and public health sectors but could benefit from increased participation of Safety Net Providers and Hispanic community members. There were high levels of satisfaction among participants related to decision-making, communication, technical assistance and, to a lesser extent, financial resources. Partnership members perceived positive impacts of their work with regard to awareness building and the development of culturally appropriate communication and health promotion strategies for Hispanic community residents. Associations between specific structural/process indicators and successful outcomes are discussed highlighting ideal partnerships' characteristics to effectively address health disparity in rural areas of the Midwest.

Learning Objectives:
1. Identify participatory approaches and strategies for the evaluation of community partnerships to address health disparity issues among minority populations 2. Describe structural and process characteristics of the Hispanic health partnership model that are likely to lead to positive individual, organizational and community outcomes

Keywords: Community-Based Partnership, Latino Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No
Any institutionally-contracted trials related to this submission?

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.