142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition

Annual Meeting Recordings are now available for purchase

310950
Prevention is Primary: Strategies and Tools to Make Community Health and Equity a Reality

142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition (November 15 - November 19, 2014): http://www.apha.org/events-and-meetings/annual
Tuesday, November 18, 2014 : 8:30 AM - 8:50 AM

Rachel Davis, MSW , Prevention Institute, Oakland, CA
Place and community conditions significantly affect health. People lead healthier lives in safe communities with walkable and bikeable streets, parks and playgrounds, grocery stores selling healthy foods, and neighbors who know one another. Yet, not all communities support healthy outcomes equally. Prevention Institute's approach to addressing health equity advances a deeper understanding of how fundamental causes of disparity (e.g., economics and oppression) shape community environments, which, in turn, influence the underlying determinants of health, injury, and illness.

Robust public engagement is a critical component of any effort to promote health and equity through changes to community environments. Meaningful community participation builds trust, ensures that community priorities are understood, strengthens local residents’ capacity to articulate relevant solutions, and solidifies partnerships with local government. In disenfranchised communities, community engagement is particularly important to rectify experiences of injustice and mistrust. In addition, to advance place-based solutions that meet community needs and priorities, health professionals must collaborate with practitioners from other fields such as transportation and land use planning, parks and recreation, and economic development.

This presentation will highlight two tools that can be used to craft comprehensive, collaborative approaches to promote place-based health. Prevention Institute’s Spectrum of Prevention is an ecological framework for developing effective, sustainable primary prevention programs. Our Two Steps to Prevention is a determinants of health framework that identifies thirteen community factors that influence health. We will share case studies illustrating how these tools can be used to engage communities in creating healthier and more equitable environments.

Learning Areas:

Chronic disease management and prevention
Diversity and culture
Other professions or practice related to public health
Public health or related organizational policy, standards, or other guidelines
Public health or related public policy

Learning Objectives:
Discuss the importance of community determinants in advancing health and safety in the first place. Identify effective strategies and tools for moving towards health equity and community engagement. Analyze how underlying factors in communities shape health outcomes and affect health inequities. Describe how the environment shapes norms, which shapes behaviors and health outcomes. Discuss the Two Steps to Prevention Model: Move from a healthcare model to measuring, understanding, and addressing the social determinants of health. Discuss the value of environmental change approaches, primarily policy, and organizational practice changes in preventing illnesses and inequities from occurring in the first place.

Keyword(s): Prevention, Community-Based Partnership & Collaboration

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: Rachel Davis, Managing Director at Prevention Institute,oversees the Institute’s work on violence and trauma prevention, health equity, and mental health. She creates tools and materials to support local and state initiatives and educates government agencies, foundations, and community groups throughout the country. Rachel co-developed THRIVE (Toolkit for Health and Resilience in Vulnerable Environments), a community tool to help identify and foster factors in the community environment that improve health outcomes, reduce inequity and promote resilience.
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.