Oral

In recent years, community-based participatory research (CBPR) projects have attempted to address the social determinants and root causes of health disparities by working to reduce racism,sexism, and biases against the poor. Many CBPR projects have faced substantial challenges trying to evaluate whether they have been effective in producing change in communities, in systems, and among change agents. The Handbook for Social Change in Health was created to address this need. This session reports on the fieldwork and key concepts that underpin the Handbook, and describes the approach and methods laid out in the Handbook and companion workbook. This session also reports on the experience of the Charleston and Georgetown Diabetes Coalition in South Carolina which pilot tested the Handbook and companion workbook. Presenters will describe how community members, health professionals and other partners used these materials successfully to document their project's effectiveness in producing community change and systems change. Presenters will also discuss how these materials helped them determined that the community and systems changes contributed to a reduction in diabetes disparities among African Americans. Presenters will discuss the limitations and challenges that remain. This new evaluation resource can aid projects in assessing whether they are producing social change that leads to health improvements.

Session Objectives: 1. List the challenges of conducting assessments of social change in a CBPR project. 2. Discuss the development and contents of a new evaluation resource. 3. Discribe the experiences and findings of a CBPR project that has pilot tested this resource.

CE Credits: CME, Health Education (CHES), Nursing