Building a Partnership for Community Health in an Underserved Neighborhood in Beirut

Family physicians and academic researchers partnered with a community-based organization (CBO), which operates a school and family clinic in an underserved Beirut neighborhood, to design a community health worker program to address local health problems.  Community health priorities were identified during discussions between the CBO and academic partners.  A qualitative study was designed to explore health beliefs and practices regarding important needs (childhood illness and family planning) and local attitudes towards community health workers.  Prior to the initiation of the study, women living in the neighborhood were recruited to join a Community Advisory Board (CAB) and solicited for their input regarding neighborhood health priorities. Physicians in the clinic and academic partners focused primarily on medical diagnoses, such as acute childhood illnesses, which generate over 70% of clinic visits. Meanwhile, CAB members emphasized environmental factors, such as poor housing, lack of clean water, and improper sewage and trash disposal, which they identified as causes of childhood illness.  Through recognizing neighborhood women as experts of their own circumstances, the project empowered the local population and enabled the design of a health program tailored to needs identified by the community. By bringing together a diverse population of Lebanese, Lebanese Dom (the Middle Eastern Roma), and Syrian refugees in a collaborative process, the project also aims to diffuse social tensions and increase social cohesion.