Spotlight

Evaluating Community Capacity Building Efforts Aimed at Eliminating Health Inequities

Many health departments have been investing heavily in community engagement and capacity building initiatives as a way of addressing the root causes of poor health and eliminating health inequities. There is a need to strengthen the internal capacity of health departments to evaluate efforts that are intended to improve community health and build evidence that this approach is an effective means of addressing health inequities.

In March 2006, BARHII joined forces with the University of California Berkeley Center for Public Health Practice and the Pacific Public Health Training Center to bring together local health department staff and partner agencies that have been conducting CCB interventions and evaluations. The two day conference was intended to strengthen the internal capacity of health departments to evaluate community efforts designed to improve community health. Participants were given the opportunity to identify challenges in evaluating CCB initiatives and share best practices.

Featured speakers included
Meredith Minkler — UC Berkeley School of Public Health
Ross F. Conner — Center for Community Health Research, UC Irvine
Curtiss Takada-Rooks — San Jose State University
Nance Wilson — Youth Empowerment Strategies
Larry Green — UC San Francisco
Zoë Cardoza Clayson — San Francisco State University
Philip Gardiner — University of California Office of the President
Sarah Samuels — Samuels and Associates

Throughout the conference there were two recurring themes: the potential benefit to public health departments of more evidence linking community capacity building efforts to a reduction in health inequities and the need for greater capacity within health departments to design and implement those interventions. Several participants expressed concern over the lack of shared or standard definition of community capacity building. Others called for a more meaningful participation of community members in assessing their effectiveness. Everyone agreed that BARHII, with its focus on data and capacity building, would be an ideal venue for further development.

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Community Work Group

Health inequities within a local public health jurisdiction can be seen most commonly in low-income neighborhoods that are comprised of increasingly multi-ethnic populations. Public health department work within those communities, however, typically occurs through categorical programs focused on specific diseases, risk factors and/or populations. To more effectively address the root causes of health inequities, public health departments are trying to work with communities on the broad range of conditions that contribute to poor health. Accordingly, BARHII has made a priority of supporting member health departments as they attempt to forge new strategies for community engagement and capacity building to address that broad range of conditions, and to establish relationships that can be sustained over time.

In its launch of a concerted focus on work with communities, BARHII hosted a forum, Engaging Communities: Effective Strategies in Public Health, in January, 2007, which involved participation of over 60 staff from seven health departments. The forum shared models, strategies and approaches for community engagement and capacity building.

• How do public health departments define communities?
• How do public health departments define their role in engaging communities?
• What resources are available to support public health departments in this work?
• What promising practices have emerged in the Bay Area?
• How can BARHII facilitate and support future community capacity building initiatives?