Using a modified community of practice model to promote organizational change within a local health department through the advancement of cross-departmental collaboration, staff empowerment, and health equity

Beginning in 2008, a Community of Practice (CoP) was established in the Multnomah County Health Department to lead the Health Promotion Change Process, an organizational change initiative grounded in the principle that empowering health promotion is a means of achieving health equity. After spending time developing competencies in the principles of empowerment, empowering health promotion, and equity through reading and discussion, CoP members have more recently begun to disseminate their knowledge through trainings and technical assistance to staff across the Health Department. In carrying out this work, the CoP departed from a traditional CoP model. In 2013, in-depth interviews were conducted with 19 current and former CoP members with the goal of understanding group strengths and challenges, as well as the larger organizational context in which the CoP operates. Analysis of the data suggests that the CoP is effective in improving cross-departmental collaboration, members’ sense of empowerment, and multiple member proficiencies, including facilitation skills, emotional intelligence, and familiarity with relevant theoretical frameworks and principles. Challenges include adaptability of the model across the entire Health Department, visibility and marketing strategies, and new member orientation processes. The CoP is unique as a work group, due to its cross-departmental membership, democratic, participatory, and community building processes, and emphasis on the connection between building empowerment and equity within a workforce and achievement of empowerment and health equity within the communities it serves. In this presentation, we will describe the process of forming and maintaining the CoP, explain how a CoP model facilitates organizational change, and highlight the lessons learned to date that may apply to other agencies interested in promoting empowerment, equity, and social justice via a community of practice model.