The Center for Community Health Partnership and Research and the Institute for Public Health have awarded two project teams with up to $7,500 each in Community Partnership Seed Funding.
The aim of the Community Partnership Seed Funding is to foster and deepen community-academic partnerships. By invitation only, researchers and community organizations request funding to support initial planning and collaboration meetings, priority and agenda setting, identification of community-engaged principles, and the initial development of a memorandum of understanding.
The Community Partnership Seed Funding has recently been awarded to the following projects:
Creating a Shared Understanding of Health Beliefs to Improve Health Outcomes for Immigrants: A Model for Reciprocal Health Education between Community and Health Care Providers
Awardee: Christopher Prater, MD, MPH, assistant professor in Medicine and Pediatrics, Division of Medical Education, School of Medicine; and Vitendo4Africa
Tuberculosis (TB) disproportionately affects vulnerable populations including foreign-born individuals and those with risk factors of homelessness, HIV/AIDS, and those living in institutional settings. This project will use a data-driven model of intervention that promotes health, diminishes cases of TB and strengthens community relationships. An advisory board of health experts will be formed to guide the project. Community group leaders will be selected and trained to facilitate home-based discussions about TB, in immigrant neighborhoods. The goals are to raise awareness of TB-related issues and decrease TB cases; develop and strengthen support systems for immigrant communities, and pilot community-based training and home group discussions that can eventually be scaled to include different health topics.
Juntxs Se Puede: A Relational Teamwork Approach to Wellness
Awardee: Diana C. Parra Perez, PhD, MPH, assistant professor, Program in Physical Therapy, School of Medicine; and Saint Louis Crisis Nursery, Lifewise STL, and Refugio (South City Church)
According to a 2015 report, the Lantinx population in St. Louis has grown 233% since 1980. Among this community, 98% of families live below the federal poverty line and 70% of families are reported to have experienced intimate partner violence. An informal collaborative network has been formed to serve this community, share resources and help provide vital access to care where there has typically been little access. It is hypothesized that those benefiting from this organized collaborative and shared services are receiving a boost in stability and are making strides to greater wellness. This project will assess the collaborative, as well as its patients to gauge how supported they feel on a community care level and how social service providers could increase this kind of support. Given a history of strong competition between service agencies, the project will serve as a model of relational, collaborative care for a greater impact on wellness through interventions that consider peer relationships. Results from the findings will be disseminated to help make strides in changing the culture of service from one of competition to one of cooperation.
The Center for Community Health Partnership & Research is supported by Washington University’s Institute of Clinical and Translational Sciences and the Institute for Public Health. The Center aims to reduce disparities and improve health and wellness in the region by supporting collaborations between community and university partners.