Community Engagement

110 Pages·2022·41.023 MB·English

by  Emily Yu

4
STRATEGIC SKILLS FOR
PUBLIC HEALTH PRACTICE
When one activates engagement practices genuinely grounded in equity, these intentionally
provide opportunities for shared power and decision-making, as well as shared resources and SERIES
ownership of concept and practice. Community Engagement is the full acknowledgment and
acceptance of a community’s assets.
Shavon L. Arline-Bradley, MPH, MDiv
President
REACH Beyond Solutions
Yu’s refreshing approach doesn’t follow the nonprofit industrial complex status quo of Community
“poverty” as cultural attribute and shows how public health benefits from an economic
diversity of community ecosystem members with the potential for new and more effective
relationships. C
o Engagement
Majora Carter m
Majora Carter Group m
www.majoracartergroup.com u
n
i
t Emily Yu, MBA
Community Engagement is an open letter to public leaders and anyone working to drive y
systemic change in our communities. With examples from across the country, this guide E
provides tangible and hopeful ways we can work together to dismantle unjust systems in n Editor
partnership with the talents, vibrancy, and voices of our communities. g
a
g
Kate Emanuel e
Chief Strategy Officer m
The Ad Council
e
n
t
A healthier future for all requires skillful leaders working for the public’s health—those who
can bring together diverse voices, experiences, and capacities to advance comprehensive and
systemic change. This book offers community health practitioners a playbook and illustrative
stories for doing just that: centering community in operationalizing health in all practices, all
policies, and all investments.
Tyler Norris, MDiv
[email protected]
www.tylernorris.com
ISBN 978-0-87553-330-8
90000>
9 780875533308
4
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STRATEGIC SKILLS FOR
PUBLIC HEALTH PRACTICE
SERIES
Community
Engagement
Emily Yu, MBA
Editor
For access to digital chapters,
visit the APHA Press bookstore (www.apha.org).
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STRATEGIC SKILLS FOR
Strategic Skills for Public Health Practice Series
PUBLIC HEALTH PRACTICE
Series Editors: Michael Fraser, PhD, MS, and Brian C. Castrucci, DrPH
SERIES
1. Systems and Strategic Thinking
2. Policy Engagement
3. Resource Management and Finance
4. Community Engagement
5. Advancing Equity and Justice
6. Effective Communication Community
7. Change Management
8. Data-Based Decision Making
Engagement
9. Cross-Sectoral Partnerships
Emily Yu, MBA
Editor
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STRATEGIC SKILLS FOR
PUBLIC HEALTH PRACTICE
SERIES
Community
Engagement
Emily Yu, MBA
Editor
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American Public Health Association
800 I Street, NW
Washington, DC 20001-3710
www.apha.org
© 2022 by the American Public Health Association
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by
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Permissions Department, American Public Health Association, 800 I Street, NW, Washington, DC 20001-3710; fax [phone].
DISCLAIMER: Any discussion of medical or legal issues in this publication is being provided for informational purposes only.
Nothing in this publication is intended to constitute medical or legal advice, and it should not be construed as such. This book
is not intended to be and should not be used as a substitute for specific medical or legal advice, since medical and legal opinions
may only be given in response to inquiries regarding specific factual situations. If medical or legal advice is desired by the reader of
this book, a medical doctor or attorney should be consulted. The use of trade names and commercial sources in this book does not
imply endorsement by the American Public Health Association. The views expressed in the publications of the American Public
Health Association are those of the contributors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the American Public Health Association,
or its staff, advisory panels, officers, or members of the Association’s Executive Board. While the publisher and contributors have
used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the
content. The findings and conclusions in this book are those of the contributors and do not necessarily represent the official
positions of the institutions with which they are affiliated.
Georges C. Benjamin, MD, MACP, Executive Director
Printed and bound in the United States of America
Book Production Editor: Maya Ribault
Typesetting: KnowledgeWorks Global, Ltd.
Cover Design: Alan Giarcanella
Printing and Binding: Sheridan Books
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Yu, Emily (Community health consultant), editor.
Title: Strategic skills : community engagement / edited by Emily Yu, MBA.
Description: Washington, DC : American Public Health Association, [2022] |
Includes bibliographical references and index. | Summary: “Communities
are dynamic and complex ecosystems that are constantly developing,
changing, and evolving. The stories in this book bring forth an array of
new ideas and questions for public health leaders about the important
role and inherent power of communities in advancing better health for
all”-- Provided by publisher.
Identifiers: LCCN 2022041947 (print) | LCCN 2022041948 (ebook) | ISBN
9780875533308 (paperback) | ISBN 9780875533315 (adobe pdf)
Subjects: LCSH: Community health services--United States. | Public
health--United States. | Community organization--United States.
Classification: LCC RA445 .S75 2022 (print) | LCC RA445 (ebook) | DDC
362.10973--dc23/eng/20220928
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022041947
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022041948
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This book is dedicated to every person who believes
in their community and is working to ensure a
healthier tomorrow for all those who call it home.
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Contents
Series Introduction ix
Preface xiii
1. Letters to the Field of Public Health: Community Leaders 1
Define What Community Engagement Means to Them
Melissa Monbouquette, MPA, Manuel J. Castañeda, MS, MJ,
Nichelle Gilbert, Natasha Butler, CHW, CHWI,
and C. Benzel Jimmerson
Introduction: Centering Lived Experience 1
As Expertise in Community Engagement
Melissa Monbouquette, MPA
Community Leaders Foster Community Engagement 3
Manuel J. Castañeda, MS, MJ
Together We Rise 6
Nichelle Gilbert
The Untold, Real Story of Alief 7
Natasha Butler, CHW, CHWI
The Power of Human Connection 11
C. Benzel Jimmerson
2. Collaborating for Success: The Symbiotic 15
Relationship Between Communities and Institutions
James Bell III, DSW, and Jodi Cunningham, PhD
3. Centering Community Engagement 25
Jessica Mulcahy, MA, and Emily Yu, MBA
4. What Does Good Community Engagement Design Look, 37
Sound, and Feel Like?
Evette De Luca
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viii COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
5. Community Engagement in Action 55
Lisa Beczkiewicz, Sarah Garber, MS,
Patrick J. Cusick, MSPH, REHS, Kim Foreman,
Jennifer Muggeo, MPH, and Ana P. Novais
Missoula, Montana 55
Lisa Beczkiewicz and Sarah Garber, MS
Cleveland, Ohio 59
Patrick J. Cusick, MSPH, REHS, and Kim Foreman
New London County, Connecticut 65
Jennifer Muggeo, MPH
Rhode Island 70
Ana P. Novais
Contributors 77
Index 85
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Strategic Skills for Public Health
Practice Series Introduction
Over the last 15 years, governmental public health professionals and partners nation-
wide have worked to define core competencies, essential services, and foundational
capabilities of the public health.1,2,3 Central to all these efforts is the public health
workforce—the practitioners who work in local, state, territorial, tribal, and federal
public health agencies to prevent disease and protect and promote the health of
the public.
The governmental public health workforce is diverse and comprised of many techni-
cal specialties and professions. These professional identities have shaped public health
practice and formed categories of work that comprise the organizational chart most gov-
ernmental public health agencies utilize, such as maternal and child health, environmen-
tal health, epidemiology and surveillance, communicable disease control, administration
and finance, school health, and several others.
These categories have served public health well by helping organize work and allow-
ing for professionalization and leadership development within specific areas. Over 21
national professional associations represent categorical or function areas within state and
territorial health departments alone, not to mention peer groups and affinity groups that
are part of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials and other allied orga-
nizations such as the National Association of County and City Health Officials, the Big
Cities Health Coalition, CityMatCH (urban maternal and child health programs), the
National Environmental Health Association, and others.
These specialty designations have also led to fragmentation within agencies at a time
when government is attempting to align more nimbly to meet the needs of the jurisdic-
tions they serve. Few public health professionals have formal training in the skills needed
to successfully adapt their work to navigate these changes, especially the strategic skills
needed to position their work to meet contemporary public health challenges that require
inter- and intra-agency collaboration for success. For example, the pressures and chal-
lenges imposed on the public health ecosystem and its workers by the COVID-19 pan-
demic illustrate the urgency of preparing the public health workforce not just for
technical challenges but also for strategic and adaptive challenges posed by novel health
threats that require an “all of government” approach to resolve.
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