Community-Based Participatory Approaches to Assessment and Planning

Too often health improvement efforts fail to effectively engage communities, rich with local knowledge and creative energy, in their work. Beyond missing out on key information about community challenges and assets, ineffective or non-existent community engagement can lead to general community distrust and exhaustion. Community-based participatory research (CBPR) presents an alternative approach to research and action. CBPR emphasizes co-learning and the reciprocal transfer of expertise, decision making power, and the ownership of the process and products of research (Rhodes and Benfield 2006). Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnerships (MAPP) and Protocol for Assessing Community Excellence in Environmental Health (PACE EH) are two approaches to community-based participatory assessment and planning. Both processes take a community-wide approach to helping communities prioritize public health issues, identify resources for addressing them, and take action. Participants will learn how communities have used MAPP and PACE EH to increase collaboration and trust between local health agencies and communities, identify and act on the root causes of health challenges, and identify and maximize community assets.