Oral

Making the best use of financial resources to improve public health at the community level is always a challenge. When the economy is soft, state and local government are especially stressed in their ability to meet the multiplicity of public health needs for which they are responsible. This session will focus on methods and tools for community-based research, emphasizing potential low cost solutions to the problem of analyzing and planning for local health care needs. The roles of practice based research networks (PBRN), of community based organizations, and community health workers will be discussed. A special focus will be on health inequities and policies that will improve access to care and the health of vulnerable populations.

Session Objectives: At the end of this session, participants will be better able to: • Identify research needs involving public health infrastructure and practice • Describe the use of standard office software and low-cost tools in analytic and field community health assessments • Understand the steps associated with the successful implementation of a local policy initiative to address health inequities