Product Details

Author Information

Corresponding Author
Jewel Stafford
Washington University in St. Louis School of Medcine
Division of Public Health Sciences
660 S. Euclid Ave, Campus Box 8100
St. Louis, MO 63110
United States
p: 314-747-2183
f: 314-454-7941
staffordjd@wustl.edu

Authors (listed in order of authorship):
Melody Goodman
Washington University in St. Louis School of Medci

Jewel Stafford
Washington University in St. Louis School of Medci

Suffolk County Minority Health Action Coalition

Product Description and Application Narrative Submitted by Corresponding Author

What general topics does your product address?

Public Health, Social Work

What specific topics does your product address?

Access to health care, Advocacy, Built environment, Community coalition , Community engagement, Community health , Community organizing, Cultural competency , Health disparities, Minority health, Race & health, Community-based participatory research

Does your product focus on a specific population(s)?

Black or African-American, Indigenous/Aboriginal, Latino/Hispanic, Uninsured

What methodological approaches were used in the development of your product, or are discussed in your product?

Asset-mapping, Community-academic partnership, Problem-based learning

What resource type(s) best describe(s) your product?

Best practice , Evidence-based practice, Proceedings

Application Narrative

1. Please provide a 1600 character abstract describing your product, its intended use and the audiences for which it would be appropriate.*

The Center for Public Health and Health Policy Research (CPHHPR) hosted three Mini-Summits on Minority Health to respond to the unique public health challenges facing its region. The Mini-Summits were unique community forums designed to unite and mobilize diverse stakeholders to address and improve minority health outcomes through a comprehensive action plan. Participants identified health concerns; developed goals and recommended culturally appropriate region specific strategies. Summit findings were compiled into proceedings and disseminated to participants to ensure bidirectional communication. The key recommendations gleaned from the proceedings led to the formation of the Suffolk County Minority Health Action Coalition (SMHAC) and Community Alliance for Research Empowering Social change (CARES), an academic community based research network. This document may prove beneficial to those interested in developing an infrastructure for Community Based Participatory Research.

2. What are the goals of the product?

The Mini Summit on minority health proceedings are a collective summary of a collaborative effort through an academic community partnered approach. Participants included 40 diverse action-oriented community members, key leaders and health professionals with a collective mission to address and improve health outcomes for communities of color on Long Island. The goals of the summit proceedings were to: 1) document the transformative process that was utilized to assess participants’ needs, identify and prioritize concerns, and build trust with key community stakeholders within vulnerable communities in Suffolk County, NY, 2) develop culturally appropriate region specific strategies and sustainable approaches to address health disparities 3) inform local, state and national bodies about the expressed needs and concerns of diverse communities in Suffolk County, 4) to promote an inclusive community planning process that engages and empowers communities of color to become agents of social change. As a broader goal, the proceedings seeks to increase awareness about health inequities that exist in our region and shed light on the needs of marginalized populations, including undocumented residents, the working poor and Native Americans.

3. Who are the intended audiences or expected users of the product?

The mini-summit on minority health proceedings may be useful for diverse stakeholders, universities, academic faculty, community health stakeholders, faith and community based organizations, thought leaders, scholars and policy makers interested in creating social change in their region. This product may prove beneficial to action oriented individuals seeking a multifaceted approach (community organization, community engagement and coalition building) that engages communities to address identified concerns and develop culturally appropriate solutions to improve minority health outcomes. This academic community partnered approach may guide and inform efforts to build an infrastructure for Community Based Participatory Research.

4. Please provide any special instructions for successful use of the product, if necessary. If your product has been previously published, please provide the appropriate citation below.

For academic and community groups using these proceedings to guide and inform their community engagement efforts, there are incremental steps that need to be taken into consideration. First, a diverse planning committee with trusted relationships should be established. Second, diverse stakeholders motivated to participate in social change should be invited to participate in the community forum. Third, each summit should have a culturally appropriate and community relevant theme to set the tone for the day. Fourth, facilitators should develop a series of open-ended thought provoking questions that will guide and inform the discussion in the break out groups. Finally, all of the collective ideas should be disseminated through a report or community publication.

5. Please describe how your product or the project that resulted in the product builds on a relevant field, discipline or prior work. You may cite the literature and provide a bibliography in the next question if appropriate.

5. Minority communities in the residentially segregated suburb of Suffolk County, NY have continued to experience a disproportionate burden of poor health outcomes (Erase Racism). Long Island is the third most residentially segregated suburb in the nation. Residential segregation has been referred to as the “structural lynchpin” that maintains structural inequality in the United States (Bobo, 1989). These inequalities account for the differences in the social and physical environment that impact health outcomes. Residential segregation has also been established as one of the many causes of the disparities in health between whites and blacks (Acevedo-Garcia et al). However, eliminating these disparities will require community support and comprehensive, multi-level culturally appropriate strategies (IOM). Community engagement and coalition building were necessary approaches to bridge the gap among researchers and community to build a sense of connection and collectiveness to bring about change (Minkler, 2005). Specifically, in public health developing collaborative partnerships and coalitions have become increasingly popular to address a broad array of concerns and improve health outcomes. Community coalitions have been an effective approach to addressing community needs, providing direction to comprehensive community initiatives that address a broad array of social problems and increasing community capacity (Chavis, 2000). The strengths of this approach lie in developing synergy among diverse stakeholders, identifying and prioritizing health issues while developing tailored approaches, strategies or interventions for social change. In geographically isolating environments, forming a community coalition is an approach to develop alliances, and engage hard to reach community members through a shared common interest. Coalitions capitalize on the strengths of minority and medically underserved communities to enhance existing social, political, and economic networks that will increase social capital and empower communities to become agents of social change. Academic community based partnerships provide a broad range of resources, skills, trusted social agents and relationships beyond the capacity of what a single organization or agency could accomplish on its own (Green, 2001).

6. Please provide a bibliography for work cited above or in other parts of this application. Provide full references, in the order sited in the text (i.e. according to number order). .

1. Rusk D. ERASE Racism Conference Long Island Little Boxes Must Act as One: Overcoming Urban Sprawl & Suburban Segregation Conference: 2002, June 5; Islandia, NY
2. Bobo, Lawrence, 1989. “Keeping the Lynchpin in Place: Testing the multiple sources of Opposition to Residential Integration” International Review of Social Psychology 2: 305-23

3. Acevedo-Garcia D, Lochner KA, Osypuk TL, Subramanian SV. Future Directions in Residential Segregation and Health Research: A Multilevel Approach. Am J Public Health. 2003; 93(2):215-221

4. Minkler M. Community-based research partnerships: Challenges and opportunities. Journal of Urban Health Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine. 2005; 82(2 Suppl 2): ii3-ii12.

5. Institute of Medicine. 2002 Unequal Treatment: Confronting Racial and Ethnic Disparities in health care

6. Chavis, D. M, 2000 The Paradoxes and Promise of Community Coalitions American journal of Community Psychology, 2001, 29(2) 309- 320

7. Green L, Daniel M, Novick L. Partnerships and coalitions for community-based research. Public Health Rep. 2001;116(Suppl 1):20–31

7. Please describe the project or body of work from which the submitted product developed. Describe the ways that community and academic/institutional expertise contributed to the project. Pay particular attention to demonstrating the quality or rigor of the work:

• For research-related work, describe (if relevant) study aims, design, sample, measurement instruments, and analysis and interpretation. Discuss how you verified the accuracy of your data.
• For education-related work, describe (if relevant) any needs assessment conducted, learning objectives, educational strategies incorporated, and evaluation of learning.
• For other types of work, discuss how the project was developed and reasons for the methodological choices made.

The Center for Public Health and Health Policy Research (CPHHPR) engaged diverse stakeholders to participate in three Mini-Summits on Minority Health (community partnered project). These community forums united and mobilized diverse community stakeholders with a shared vision to address and improve minority health outcomes in Suffolk County through a comprehensive action plan. This product is the result of a community partnered approach designed to address health inequities in Suffolk County, NY. The mini-summit proceedings articulate the collective insights and key recommendations from the diverse action-oriented health professionals who participated in the open dialogues. The key recommendations gleaned from the proceedings provided the impetus for the formation of the Suffolk County Minority Health Action Coalition (SMHAC) and Community Alliance for Research Empowering Social change (CARES), an academic community based research network.
Participants identified health concerns; developed goals and recommended culturally appropriate region specific strategies to address health concerns. In order to engage community members, key leaders and informants, health professionals and academia in Suffolk County, we 1) developed a diverse planning committee to identify and select key community stakeholders 2) assessed and prioritized community health concerns 3) developed community-academic partnerships and evidence-based initiatives.
The planning committee identified key stakeholders and trusted agents within minority and medically underserved communities in Suffolk County through informal interviews. Identified stakeholders included representatives from community based organizations, faith based organizations, informal and formal leaders, health professionals working on minority health and community activists, leaders and members. Each member of the planning committee developed a list of potential summit participants. The lists were compiled, compared for duplication, discussed among committee members to reflect the inclusive needs of minority and medically underserved. Based on previous working relationships and partnerships, identified community health stakeholders accepted invitations to the mini-summits.
Mini-summits on minority health were unique community forums designed to assess and elucidate minority health concerns in our region. The Mini summits provided CPHHPR with a unique opportunity to organize diversity of thought, identify the needs of community stakeholders and work collectively to develop and implement culturally appropriate solutions. Each summit had its own theme and followed the same format: a brief PowerPoint presentation of relevant theme and break out groups.
For each summit, participants were then placed into 5 breakout groups of no more than 10 participants and asked a series of 4-5 open ended questions. Summit participants were encouraged to share their perceptions, identify barriers and propose potential solutions to tackle the contributing factors of health disparities in the region. Each group was asked to choose a presenter and secretary. The secretary was responsible for taking notes and placing the responses into the appropriate categories. The presenter was responsible for communicating the groups’ responses at the end of the session to the larger group. The answers to the questions were placed in the following format: areas of concern, goals to address those concerns and the recommended strategies to achieving those goals. The break out groups reconvened into a larger group to prioritize major themes and identify action steps.
Summit findings and recommendations were prioritized, compiled into conference proceedings, and disseminated to summit participant at the following mini-summit to ensure transparency and bidirectional communication. The mini-summit proceedings were reviewed and edited by both academic and community stakeholders prior to dissemination.

8. Please describe the process of developing the product, including the ways that community and academic/institutional expertise were integrated in the development of this product.

The proceedings were prepared by CPHHPR faculty and staff and community stakeholders, utilizing the key findings from the break out groups’ sessions, written notes from the break out groups’ facilitators, responses to the questions and information collected from the Mini-summit evaluation forms. All of the information gathered for the proceedings were derived from the collective thoughts, insights and shared expertise of action-oriented individuals invited to the mini-summits. The mini-summit proceedings were reviewed and edited by both academic and community stakeholders prior to dissemination.

9. Please discuss the significance and impact of your product. In your response, discuss ways your product has added to existing knowledge and benefited the community; ways others may have utilized your product; and any relevant evaluation data about impact, if available. If the impact of the product is not yet known, discuss its potential significance.

8. Academic- community based partnerships are both challenging and rewarding. We learned guiding principles to community engagement, partnership development and activating social change in our region. There are characteristics that are essential for community stakeholders’ engagement, consistent participation, catalyst for social action and social change. This community approach has been created a paradigm shift in our communities. Many community based organizations in our region have used summits as a vehicle to mobilize communities in social change, identify concerns, and engage underserved populations in community level interventions.

10. Please describe why you chose the presentation format you did.

The Mini-Summit on Minority Health Proceedings is the product of a collaborative effort from approximately 40 diverse action-oriented health professionals to address health disparities on Long Island. Their contributions about important issues facing minority and underserved communities on Long Island, and recommended strategies have provided the roadmap for a sustainable action plan. We chose proceedings to ensure that we developed a comprehensive strategic plan based on recommendations from the participating coalition members. In addition we wanted to ensure that we translated and disseminated this information to community members, government officials, community, health and faith-based institutions. This document provides a detailed account of our community partnered approach to identify concerns and maintain communication with our stakeholders, community members and regional organizations.

11. Please reflect on the strengths and limitations of your product. In what ways did community and academic/institutional collaborators provide feedback and how was such feedback used? Include relevant evaluation data about strengths and limitations if available.

These mini-summits were a useful tool to convene key community leaders and health professionals; pool resources, utilize community forums to assess minority health and develop a comprehensive action plan that will guide and inform future efforts. Our incremental approach allowed us the opportunity to leverage the power of partnerships as a vehicle to increase social capital and empower communities of color. Each Mini-Summit had its own theme and followed the same format: a brief PowerPoint presentation of relevant theme and break out groups. To this end, participants identified areas of concerns; developed recommended strategies and measurable goals to monitor and evaluate progress. To ensure an incremental process with attainable goals and consistency, this format was replicated in each Mini-Summit. Participant feedback was encouraged and captured in the proceedings, and their key recommendations led to two academic community based partnerships.
Participants recommended forming a coalition and formal training on research methods, which provided the impetus to form the Suffolk county Minority Health Coalition (SMHAC) and the academic community based research network entitled Community Alliance for Research Empowering Social change (CARES). This academic community partnered approach was multifaceted. The strength of the approach lies in the following strategies (Stafford, et al 2011):
1. Engaging key academic community health stakeholders to participate in mini-summits on minority health
2. Assessing and elucidating key health concerns, goals to address these concerns and recommendations that include culturally appropriate region specific strategies.
3. Developing group activities (e.g. case studies, open-ended questions, brainstorming) around a culturally relevant theme.
4. Documenting the collective process and group activities through a secretary, meeting minutes, notes, evaluation forms and/or questionnaires. All information should be placed in a report or proceedings, translated through a collaborative process, and disseminated to participants for bidirectional communication
5. Uniting key community stakeholders to improve health outcomes of Long Island residents by pooling member resources into one comprehensive community network
Each community is unique in needs and resources. It was necessary to develop a flexible framework that would set boundaries while allowing community members to provide content and direction. This collaborative process should be incremental, inclusive, provide valuable insight about community health concerns, community driven and generate measureable outcomes, such as an increased membership in the collective group.
Although this process is time consuming, it was rewarding and provided a vehicle for social change in our region. An unanticipated result of addressing the key recommendations from our diverse stakeholders was our ability to secure funding from: 1) the Long Island Community Foundation to form SMHAC and 2) the National Institute of Health Public Trust Initiative - Grant # 1R03HD061220 to develop CARES.

12. Please describe ways that the project resulting in the product involved collaboration that embodied principles of mutual respect, shared work and shared credit. If different, describe ways that the product itself involved collaboration that embodied principles of mutual respect, shared work and shared credit. Have all collaborators on the product been notified of and approved submission of the product to CES4Health.info? If not, why not? Please indicate whether the project resulting in the product was approved by an Institutional Review Board (IRB) and/or community-based review mechanism, if applicable, and provide the name(s) of the IRB/mechanism.

CPHHPR embarked upon a journey to identify and understand the needs of communities of color in Suffolk County and to work collectively to address their concerns. Prior to this endeavor, we envisioned an opportunity to engage in research, but through the mini-summits we saw an opportunity to achieve something greater- collective social action.
To address the broad array health inequities, participants recommended forming an independent non-partisan community coalition entitled Suffolk County Minority Health Action Coalition (SMHAC) as a sustainable entity designed to enhance community capacity and reduce health disparities in Suffolk County. The purpose of the coalition is to capitalize on the strengths of minority and medically underserved communities to enhance existing social, political, and economic networks that will increase social capital and empower communities to become agents of social change. At the third mini-summit on Minority Health, CPHHPR announced that seed funding was secured from the Long Island Community Foundation for the development of SMHAC. To this end, the coalition committees were formed by encouraging participants to fill the officer positions on each committee. Each of the 5 committees represented a major concern or recommendation: cultural competency, coalition structure (executive board), data collection, and the East end committee. The executive board of SMHAC is comprised of the committee chairs and the facilitators (CPHHPR staff) of the coalition.
Utilizing specific principles of community based participatory research; CPHHPR in collaboration with Literacy Suffolk, Inc. received funding from the National Institutes of Health Public Trust Initiative - Grant # 1R03HD061220 develops the Community Alliance for Research Empowering Social change (CARES). CARES was developed in response to SMHAC’s recommendation at the second mini-summit that community members needed to be trained on the CBPR approach and the research process to effectively create social change. Specific CBPR principles that were embodied through our approach was: 1) a community partnered approach that is participatory from beginning to end; 2) cooperative, engaging community members and researchers in a joint process in which both contribute equally and 3) co-learning process between community members and researchers that enhances knowledge and improves the quality of research projects.
In the spirit of true collaboration, all of the SMHAC members will be notified of the submission to CES4Health and any future publications.
We would like to take this time to recognize the tireless efforts and contributions of the hard working, dedicated members of the Suffolk County Minority Health Action Coalition (see proceedings page 12 for all the names of the members) and the Fellows and Faculty from Community Alliance Research for Empowering Social change. We would also like to acknowledge the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Stony Brook University Graduate Program in Public Health, School of Medicine, School of Social Welfare, Long Island Community Foundation and the National Institutes of Health Public Trust Initiative for their support in our academic community based initiatives.