Oral

There have been increasing calls for community-academic-practice partnerships to have a broader effect on health through engaging the participation of community members in policy advocacy. Neighborhoods Working in Partnership: Building Capacity for Policy Change (NWP), a project of the Detroit Community-Academic Urban Research Center (URC) in partnership with PolicyLink, aims to enhance the capacity of neighborhood residents and organizations to engage in the policy change process to positively impact the health of families in Detroit. The URC is a community-based participatory research partnership which builds upon the strengths of the communities involved, to conduct etiologic research, public health interventions, and policy advocacy aimed at understanding and addressing health inequities. In this session, presentations will describe the rationale for and processes of NWP, including: 3 Train-the-Trainers workshops and a 4-session series of workshops carried out by community and academic trainers in 7 neighborhoods in Detroit with approximately 225 participants – almost half of whom were youth. We will describe and analyze the development, tailoring and content of the curriculum; recruitment procedures; and methods used to evaluate the workshops. Drawing upon qualitative and quantitative data from workshop assessments, pre- and post-questionnaires, and group interviews, we will describe and analyze the results from the process, outcome and impact evaluations of the workshops. We will provide a case study describing the outcomes of the advocacy work of a youth leadership council who participated in the NWP workshops. Finally we will address the challenges, facilitating factors, and lessons learned from the development and implementation of NWP.

Session Objectives: Discuss the rationale for and processes of involving community residents in policy advocacy aimed at promoting health, including developing and tailoring the curriculum for the different neighborhoods, languages, adults and youth. Articulate the evaluation findings for building capacity of neighborhood residents to promote health through policy advocacy. Describe facilitating factors and barriers that impact community residents’ engagement in policy advocacy activities. Discuss the outcomes of the efforts of a youth leadership council to advocate with policy makers and community leaders to reduce school drop-out rates and improve school environments. Articulate challenges and lessons learned regarding implementation of the training program and implications for conducting policy advocacy capacity building efforts.

CE Credits: Medical (CME), Health Education (CHES), Nursing (CNE), Public Health (CPH)