PolicyLink has published several reports and studies and contributed to articles and journals related to our health policy research. Following is a summary of reports and academic journal articles focusing on a diverse range of health related topics: an exploration of environmental conditions that affect childhood asthma; community factors that impact health disparities; the physical environment and its implications for health equity; the role of community involvement in Healthy Start, a federally funded initiative to reduce infant mortality; and, the role of funders in promoting principles of Community Based Participatory Research.
Communities
And Health Policy: A Pathway For Change, Health Affairs, Winter
2005
Improving the health
system can reduce the effects of health disparities, but
it can do little to eliminate them. An upsurge in new research
is documenting the impact of physical, social, and economic
environmental factors: air quality, housing conditions, racism,
relationship to community institutions, and neighborhood
economic conditions, all of which affect health status over
time. A combined focus on community and the policies that
affect communities’ environments presents opportunities
for altering and ameliorating the underlying forces at the
heart of the determinants of health. This Perspective printed
in Health Affairs presents examples of successful community
involvement and policy change.
click here for direct link to the Health Affairs article..
PolicyLink / Joint Center Research Project
In a 2004 partnership with The Health Policy Institute
at The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, PolicyLink engaged
in a study, funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, designed to better
understand the most pressing issues facing African American and Latino
communities
in their fight to eliminate racial and ethnic health disparities. The
Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies seeks to inform and illuminate
the nation's major public policy debates through research, analysis,
and
dissemination of information that will improve the socioeconomic status
of black Americans, expand their participation in political and public
policy arenas and promote communication and relationships across racial
and ethnic lines.
Through a review of the literature and interviews with
African American and Latino community health leaders and elected officials,
PolicyLink and
the Joint Center produced four issue briefs that summarized key interview
findings, shed light on national promising practices and suggested policy
changes that could reduce these health disparities. Interview results confirmed
PolicyLink fundamental beliefs that the social, economic, and physical
environments of local communities—environments shaped by overarching
racial inequalities—affect health and contribute to health disparities
in deep and long lasting ways.
The reports address four critical aspects of health disparities’ adverse effects on African Americans and Latinos: overall community factors that influence health; disproportionate rates of asthma in these communities; neighborhood conditions that discourage healthy eating and physical activity; and the unique disparities facing Latino immigrants.
The Influence of Community
Factors on Health: An Annotated Bibliography
This publication contains summaries of more than 150 important articles,
reports, and books on how community factors affect health. The searchable
web version can provide ideas for programs and policies that could strengthen
community factors and improve health, and shows research that can be used
in reports and policy campaigns focused on improving health.
Full Report (PDF Format)
Searchable Web Version
"Community Based Participatory Research: Implications for Public Health Funding"
This article discusses strategies for addressing the challenges that arise in Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) as an approach to studying and acting to reduce health disparities, and makes the case for increasing support for CBPR as an important tool in public health research focused on action and community.
4 pages, In American Journal of Public Health (August 2003)
"Facilitators of Well-Functioning Consortia: National Healthy Start Program Lessons"
This article presents the PolicyLink findings of a nine-city study of community consortia in the Federal Healthy Start Program; identifying factors that facilitate a well-functioning consortia, and discussing the implications of the findings for social work and policy.
11 pages, In Health & Social Work (August 2003)
Reducing Health Disparities Through a Focus on Communities
This publication explores the relationship between the communities in which people live and their health status, and describes the community characteristics that promote or hinder good health. Attention is placed on socioeconomic factors, neighborhood conditions, structural factors, racism and cultural norms and the availability of services and opportunities. Policy recommendations and effective strategies are included.
Regional Development and Physical Activity: Issues and Strategies for Promoting Health Equity
This publication explores the connection between development patterns, physical activity, and poor health, and outlines methods for improving health through increased physical activity and targeted community organizing.
Fighting Childhood Asthma: How Communities Can Win
This publication outlines strategies to address environmental factors contributing to asthma, creates a profile of promising practices, including a national scan of current asthma legislationand makes policy recommendations for reducing environmental triggers in homes, schools, and outdoors.
"Using Community Involvement Strategies in the Fight Against Infant Mortality: Lessons From a Multi-site Study of the National Healthy Start Experience"
In this theme issue of Health Promotion Practice, the article "Using Community Involvement Strategies in the Fight Against Infant Mortality: Lessons From a Multi-site Study of the National Healthy Start Experience" presents the findings of PolicyLink research of community involvement in nine Federal Healthy Start Programs. The findings are based on in-depth interviews, focus groups, observations and document reviews, as well as identified key ways in which community involvement enriched the program.
12 pages, In Health Promotion Practice (April 2002)
"Contributions of Community Involvement to Organizational-Level Empowerment: The Federal Healthy Start Experience"
This article presents a multi-site case study of community involvement in the Federal Healthy Start Program, including exploring how community involvement in the program effects empowerment at the organizational level, and concludes with a discussion of the implications of the findings for Healthy Start and other community-based health initiatives.
25 pages, In Health Education & Behavior (December 2001)
Community Involvement in the Federal Healthy Start Program
This publication examines the connection between health and community factors with a review of nine federally funded Healthy Start Programs by assessing the role of community participation in reducing infant mortality. The summary document provides a brief overview of the larger report and includes key findings and policy recommendations.