Collaborative health planning to address urban community health needs in a limited resource environment

An urban community health planning group composed of representatives from the community, community organizations, local health department and academic partners conducted a health needs assessment in 2008 for the City of Camden, NJ. Five priority issues were targeted for year one—depression, violence, adolescent pregnancy, diabetes and related healthy living concerns, and lead in the environment. The community planning group discussed possible approaches for addressing these needs in an economic environment of limited resources. The group identified a novel approach to educate the community about targeted issues. The group worked with a local cable television show to produce half-hour segments on each topic. Each segment includes a panel discussion by an academic expert who speaks about the extent of the problem in general, possible factors underlying the issue, and prevention strategies; a community expert speaks about the extent of the problem in the city and a community service provider discusses program options and services available within the city to address the problem. Each session runs multiple times over the course of one month. Every other month a new issue is targeted. A Community Fact Sheet on each issue is developed based on information presented by the panel. This Fact Sheet is distributed by community agencies to residents and made available at local libraries and community sites. Members of the planning group simultaneously target the issue in newsletters and discussions at community meetings. The goal is to get residents and providers to focus on these issues and available solutions.