Translating findings from Community-Based Participatory Research into policy interventions to promote health: A case study of urban residential neighborhoods and depression

There have been increasing calls for community-academic-practice partnerships to translate research findings into policy interventions to promote health and reduce health inequities. Research linking urban neighborhood conditions to health is particularly appropriate for such translation, since many health-related characteristics of neighborhoods result from policies that are amenable to intervention. For example, translational research can inform and guide policymakers regarding health implications of housing, land disposition, and development policies that affect the health of community residents. Community-based participatory research (CBPR) partnerships can facilitate such translation through equitable engagement of diverse partners in all aspects of the process.

We present the methods undertaken by the Healthy Environments Partnership (HEP), a Detroit CBPR partnership, to translate findings from a study of neighborhood residential stability and income composition on depression, into urban planning and policy recommendations aimed at modifying neighborhood structural factors to improve health. We describe and analyze HEP's translation/action process that drew upon community engagement, qualitative and quantitative data, and knowledge from diverse disciplines (urban planning, demography, public policy) to: 1) further theorize causal pathways linking residential stability and economic composition to depression; 2) identify pathways amenable to policy change; 3) conduct evidence-based review and community identification of related policy interventions; 4) prepare fact sheets and policy briefs aimed at relevant community, practice, and policy maker audiences; 5) present and discuss findings with policymakers; and 6) identify further evidence needed for advancing policy interventions to reduce depression in Detroit. We discuss lessons learned for translating research into policy interventions to promote health.