Community Partnership for Health and Equity (CPHE): University-Community collaborations to advance student leadership and participation in sustainability research

Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education October 28, 2014

Research Collaborators:Research Collaborators:

This presentation and the research study is supported by a grant from

the James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation through the PSU Institute for

Sustainable Solutions

Our Objectives Our Objectives

• Link health equity and social sustainability

• Discuss student-led research project and contributions from faculty and students

• Introduce Virginia Garcia Wellness Center’s health promotion approach

• Report results of our exploratory study and the progression of the CPHE and Virginia Garcia as partners

Social Sustainability Defined

• Refers to both the processes that create, and the institutions that facilitate, social health and wellbeing now and in the future

• Recognizing that political and economic factors and arrangements will affect environmental sustainability, and all three influence social sustainability

• Thus providing a macro lens to view social interactions as intertwined, not operating separately

(Dillard, Dujon, & King, 2008)

Social Sustainability Development

• Compatible with the harmonious evolution of civil society, fostering an environment conducive to compatible cohabitation of culturally and socially diverse groups

• While at the same time encouraging social integration,

• With improvements in the quality of life for all segments of the population.

(Polese & Stren (2000) The Social Sustainability of Cities: Diversity and the Management of Change)

Development of Development of CPHECPHE

History of Community Partnership for Healthy & Equity

•Collaboration addressing health inequities in and around Portland, with the goal of facilitating effective and sustainable community lead solutions

•The CPHE focuses on the inequities created by the unequal exposure to stressors in the built and natural environment

•Leaning on the strengths of the collaborative the CPHE is able to develop appropriate service plans and effective research w/ community groups• Taking a Community-Based Participatory Research

(CBPR) approach

Solutions Generator Solutions Generator ProgramProgramThe Purpose:

•To fund and inspire interdisciplinary teams of student leaders who gain sustainability leadership skills through project-based learning

•Priorities given to projects addressing social, economic, and environmental outcomes and practices

Our Outcome:

•Exploratory research opportunity to align a larger project with community partner organizations and community members to address an identified community health concern

Research Mentoring Research Mentoring RelationshipRelationship

Mentee Perspective

•Develop strong relationships with faculty members where multiple perspectives are honored and encouraged

•Participate in guided research leadership roles:

Grant Application (project manager, assessment, fiscal roles)

Institute Review Board Application Formulate Research Guidelines and Tools Facilitate Focus Groups Analyze Data Present Research Project Write Research Reports to funding agency (weekly updates

and final report)

•Student Team Work facilitates long term collegial relationships

Virginia Garcia Wellness Virginia Garcia Wellness Center and Community Center and Community

Capacitation CenterCapacitation Center

Virginia Garcia Wellness Virginia Garcia Wellness CenterCenter

Soon after 1979

October 2012

Research Context: Research Context: Cornelius, ORCornelius, OR

• A small rural community located within the Portland metropolitan area.

• Of 11,869 residents, 50.1% were Hispanic/Latino, 44.4% were non-Latino Whites, 2.2% were Asian, and 4.0% were of other racial/ethnic groups or multiracial (U.S. Census Bureau, 2012).

• 48.2% speak a language other than English at home, 26.0% are foreign-born, and 16.9% live below the poverty level.

Solutions Generator Solutions Generator ProjectProject

Methods

• Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) & Popular Education utilized to facilitate and gather information during three bilingual focus groups—90 minutes each

Purpose• Gather community input in shaping Virginia Garcia’s community gardening program

• Identify community priorities for the use of community gardens

• Explore community’s relationship with Community Health Workers

Solution Generator Solution Generator ProjectProject

Community Participants

•20 community members (Latino/a n=18 and Caucasian n=2)•Identified Spanish as their home language (90%) and Mexico as their country of origin (90%)•Lived in Cornelius community for a minimum of five years or more (90%)•Age ranged from 29 to 61 years old, with a majority falling between 31 and 38 years (32%)

Solution Generator Solution Generator ThemesThemes

• Community’s Definition of Health and Wellness

• Community’s Connection to Community Gardening & Health

• Cultural Tensions of Community Gardening Structure

• Connection to Community Health Workers

Health and Health and Wellness Wellness

•Defined as something that feels good to one’s entire body including the mind and spirit

•Achieved through exercise, eating healthy foods, and spending time with one’s family and/or being a part of a community

•Specific conditions such as obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, loss of vision

•Importance of parents being role models for their children by accessing, motivating, and eating/cooking healthy foods and engaging in healthy activities.

Community Gardening and Community Gardening and HealthHealth

• A way to access foods they enjoyed, especially organic and fresh foods, save money, and build community connections

• Definition of “organic:” produce is more natural, doesn‘t contain chemicals, and one knows where it was planted or the process from seed to cultivation

• A working-hobby that provides an opportunity for relaxation and distraction building positive family and community networks support children’s educational attainment and healthy eating habits

Community Gardening and Community Gardening and HealthHealth

• Some Participants abandoned community gardening when they relocated to the US from Mexico, Indigenous communities and Central America

culturally and socially expectation that whole families and communities participated in gardening together

cost of individual plots and change in climate

• Participants infused cultural norms into US gardening structure

Collaborating with others to pay gardening fee

Sharing space with those who have access to land within apartment complexes or backyards

• Participants grew plants in home countries for enjoyment and food consumption in addition to medicinal purposes

• Desire to know the types of plants to grow or how to prepare the soil in Cornelius, OR

Community Health Community Health WorkersWorkers

• 25% of participants knew or had heard of a CHW and these community members who knew about the CHWs reported connecting with a worker only once per year

Participants had experiences with CHW’sCHW’s at Adelante Mujeres (N=4)Role as a CHW at church (N=1)

• Topics CHWs could teach or organize:

Types of plants or vegetables to grow under local conditions

Eating healthier; buying foods not available in garden

Where/how to buy foods that weren’t available in the garden; couponing to support their financial resources

Cooking Classes utilized foods from the community gardens cook cross-cultural foods

Sharing each other’s culture within the community

Exploring Health and Wellness through Community Gardening using Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR)

infused with Popular Education Methodology

• To use focus groups to identify community priorities for the use of community gardens

• To use popular education to identify community priorities to address social and health disparities

• To empower community members and build local leadership to promote healthy behavior

Focus Group Themes3 Focus Groups – 20 participants

Project Objective

Ryan Bender, SSW Graduate StudentBrianna C. Bragg, CFS/SS Student (SSW)Eileen Brennan, PSU, Social WorkArika Bridgeman-Bunyoli, Multnomah County Health Dept. Karen Cellarius, Regional Research InstituteVeronica Dujon, PSU, SociologyIgnolia Dyuck, Virginia Garcia Wellness Clinics

LeRoy Patton, Social Sustainability AdvisorDana Peters, SSW Graduate StudentLaurie Powers, PSU, Social WorkSandy Rodriguez, OSU Intern Virginia Garcia Wellness CenterMarion Sharp, PSU, Continuing EducationIvy Wagner, Virginia Garcia Wellness CenterNoelle Wiggins, Multnomah County Health Dept

Rujuta Gaonkar, Community Capacitation CenterGinny Garcia-Alexander, PSU, SociologyCarlos Lopez, Centro Cultural of Washington CountyJana Meinhold, PSU, Child & Family Studies (SSW)Gill Munoz, Virginia Garcia Wellness ClinicsSummer Newell, Sociology Graduate StudentElia Ortiz, Virginia Garcia Wellness Center

This Research has been supported by grants from the Institute for Sustainable Solutions, PSU

Solutions Generator - Community Partners

Guiding Principles Used:•Opportunities to connect our personal experiences to national and global realities.•Opportunities to reflect on our personal experiences and identify community problems.•Feelings and Emotions are an important part of learning. We learn with head, heart, and body.•We learn more when we are having fun!•People should be active participants (not passive recipients) in their own learning process.•We all know a lot, we should always start with what people know and do.•It is important to create an atmosphere of trust so people can share their ideas and experiences.

Popular Education Method

About Wellness

Nothing HurtingExercising/Walking

Sleeping BetterEating Healthy as a Family

Good Nutrition Limited/No Junk Food, Salt, and Sugar

Be Active as a FamilyBe Healthy as an Individual

Eat LessHave Clean Toys

Be Around FamilyEating Meals with Your FamilyPlay and Engage with Your Kids

Model Healthy BehaviorsAccess to Organic Foods

Community Gardens

Connection to Food/Healthy EatingCommunity gardens are important

Community EngagementAccessibility to Cultural FoodsOrganic and Fresh Vegetables

Impacts Health and BudgetKids Learning About Gardening –

Cultivating, Caring, & Identifying PlantsHobby

RelaxationDistraction

Children’s HappinessModeling Physical Health

Hard Work/Physically DemandingDesire Community Chicken Farm

Desired Roles/Class Topics for Community Health Workers

Gardening Practices/Types of plants or vegetablesProvide Health Education

Healthy Food Portions Appropriate Amounts of Fat and Salt Intake

Healthy/Unhealthy FatsCouponing

Canning FoodHealthy Cooking

Emphasis on Cross-Cultural Experiences Classes for Kids, Adolescents and Family

Exercise/FitnessEvening Classes (accommodating work)

Community Building

Methods Used:•Ground Rules/Group Agreements•Dinamicas (Purposeful Games)•Brainstorm

• Problem Posing• Group Evaluations• Cooperative Learning

Indicators of CBPR

Measured Indicators:•The group agreed upon how to show respect for each other and the list was visible for the entire meeting.•I felt my ideas were respected by focus group members and the facilitators.•I learned something about the other members in the group.•Group members and the facilitators respected each other’s ideas in the meeting.•I thought the majority of group members participated in the meeting.•Facilitators addressed group members in a respectful manner.•Group members took turns speaking.•I felt comfortable asking questions during the meeting.•I learned something about my community from the meeting.•Group members’ ideas inspired others’ ideas and comments.•The group is willing to examine issues raised by members.

ConcernsOverweight/Obesity

School LunchesMotivation

Kid-Friendly Healthy FoodsFood Choices

Disease PreventionTV/Video GamesMoney/Childcare

DiabetesSchedules

25% of Individuals had knowledge of

Community Health Workers and had

approximately one contact per year

Solutions Generator Student Collaborators:Ryan Bender, Brianna C Bragg, Summer Newell,

Dana Peters

Next StepsNext Steps• Ongoing Senior and Tenure Faculty

mentoring to expand research portfolio

• Ongoing and increasing Graduate Student involvement in research phases and presentations

• Increase involvement of community members and partners in the research process

• Increased academic partners to expand expertise on diabetes care

• Develop diabetes management within the family context intervention which is based upon community priorities

• Apply for federal funding to implement and evaluate pilot intervention