245075 Roles of the local health department in implementing the City of Richmond's health element

Wednesday, November 2, 2011: 8:48 AM

Tracey Rattray, MSW, MPH , Public Health Division, Contra Costa Health Services, Martinez, CA
The advent of a health element in the city of Richmond's general plan has provided Contra Costa Health Service (CCHS) a chance to expand our work in this low-income area with troubling rates of health disparities. Creating and implementing the health element, in partnership with city staff, residents, and community organizations, we have: 1) increased our internal capacity to work on built environment issues in community and government settings, 2) provided training and technical assistance to city and community groups about the impact of the built environment on health, 3) helped develop and implement built environment strategies that work across categorical issues and address priorities for community advocates, city staff and CCHS. We have also had an unexpected outcome from the project: the submittal of five joint grant proposals between various agencies in the partnership. In this case study, the Health Department will describe our roles as comrade, trainer, advisor, and learner in the remarkable process of writing and implementing the city of Richmond's health element.

Learning Areas:
Assessment of individual and community needs for health education
Program planning
Public health or related laws, regulations, standards, or guidelines
Public health or related organizational policy, standards, or other guidelines
Public health or related public policy

Learning Objectives:
• List the methods that Contra Costa Health Services used to educate county staff about the built environment and foster collaboration between programs by using built environment strategies • Describe Contra Costa Health Services methods in providing training and technical assistance to city staff and community organizations • Describe the collaborative process used by a group of partners to pursue funding opportunities to expand our work

Keywords: Community Building, Community Planning

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am qualified to present because I am the director of the community wellness and prevention program at contra costa health services and the appointed lead on the project of focus.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.