CityMatCH/NACCHO E-MCH Audio ConferenceJanuary 20, 2005

MCH and Social Justice

Wendell BrunnerDirector of Public Health

Contra Costa Health Services Contra Costa, CA

o The application of science to the promotion of community health.

o The intersection of science, health, and politics.

Definitions of Public Health

The application of science to the promotion of social justice.

Definitions of Public Health

Bay Area Regional Health Inequities Initiative

“It is our mission to transform public health practice for the purpose of eliminating health inequities using a broad spectrum of approaches that create healthy communities.”

The Bay Area Regional Health Inequities Initiative (BARHII) is an association of public health directors, health officers, senior managers, and staff from six Bay Area public health departments – Alameda, Berkeley, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, and San Mateo. The goals of the group are to:

Place health inequities, including chronic disease prevention, on the agenda of local health departments in California;

Develop a regional alliance of public health departments to support activities around health inequities; and,

Use the issue of health inequities to illuminate the environmental and social determinants of health and to expand public debate about disparities, and the policies and programs required to eliminate them.

Adapted from the State University of New Jersey Rutgers

LADDER OF COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION

Funding of community groups to implement projects;

Meetings called jointly by government and citizen groups

Established mechanisms such as advisory committees

Community Power

Power-Sharing

Consult 2

Consult 1

Inform

Government Power

Community members act without communicating with government

Community members and government solve problems together

Government asks community members for meaningful regular input

Government asks community members for occasional or limited input

Government talks; listens to the community

Government acts without community input

•Community member investigation

•Community member development and implementation of programs

•Community organizes and advocates for government response

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•Partnerships and collaborations

•Community oversight and monitoring;

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•Education and general skill building

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•Community informal meetings;

•On-going dialogue;

•Some public hearings

•Education and training on health issues

•Town hall or other meetings

•Most public hearings;

•Focus groups

•Some advisory and task forces

•Surveys, questionnaires, suggestion box

•Some public meetings;

•Press releases

•Informational strategies:such as newsletters, brochures, etc.

•Educational campaigns

•Investigations; such as health surveillance

•Legal and enforcement actions

•Emergency response

Adapted From:THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW JERSEY

RUTGERSEnvironmental Communication Research ProgramA program of the Agricultural Experiment Station

Cook College - 122 Ryders lane- New Brunswick- NewJersey 08903 – 201/932-8795

For more information and articles about the Spectrum of

Prevention and community based public health visit our web site at

www.ccpublichealth.org