Applying Community Organizing Principles to Assess Health Needs in New Haven, Connecticut

Authors

Alycia Santilli MSW, Yale School of Public HealthFollow
Amy Carroll-Scott PhD, Yale School of Public HealthFollow
Jeannette R. Ickovics PhD, Yale School of Public HealthFollow

Document Type

Article

Abstract

The Affordable Care Act added requirements for nonprofit hospitals to conduct community health needs assessments. Guidelines are minimal; however, they require input and representation from the broader community. This call echoes 2 decades of literature on the importance of including community members in all aspects of research design, a tenet of community organizing.

We describe a community-engaged research approach to a community health needs assessment in New Haven, Connecticut. We demonstrate that a robust community organizing approach provided unique research benefits: access to residents for data collection, reliable data, leverage for community-driven interventions, and modest improvements in behavioral risk.

We make recommendations for future community-engaged efforts and workforce development, which are important for responding to increasing calls for community health needs assessments.

Publication Status

Published

ISSN

1541-0048

Category Tags

Chronic Disease; Healthcare

Recommended Citation

Alycia Santilli, Amy Carroll-Scott, Jeannette R. Ickovics, “Applying Community Organizing Principles to Assess Health Needs in New Haven, Connecticut”, American Journal of Public Health 106, no. 5 (May 1, 2016): pp. 841-847.