Improving the Health of the Community: Duke??s Experience with Community Engagement

Abstract

Evidence is accumulating that the United States is falling behind in its potential to translate biomedical advances into practical applications for the population. Societal forces, increased awareness of health disparities, and the direction of clinical and translational research are producing a compelling case for AHCs to bridge the gaps between scientific knowledge and medical advancement and between medical advancement and health. The Duke University Health System, the city and county of Durham, North Carolina, and multiple local nonprofit and civic organizations are actively engaged in addressing this need. More than a decade ago, Duke and its community partners began collaborating on projects to meet specific, locally defined community health needs. In 2005, Duke and Durham jointly developed a set of Principles of Community Engagement reflecting the key elements of the partnership and crafted an educational infrastructure to train health professionals in the principles and practice of community engagement. And, most recently, Duke has worked to establish the Duke Translational Medicine Institute, funded in part by a National Institutes of Health Clinical Translational Science Award, to improve health through innovative behavioral, social, and medical knowledge, matched with community engagement and the information sciences.

Knowledge, Attitude and Practices towards Leptospirosis among Lakeshore Communities of Calamba and Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines

“…The finding emphasizes the importance of developing tailored media-based health promotion programs. Considering that only 6.74% of the respondents were familiar with the health information, education, and communication programs available from the local government health units, the study suggests that improving the direct engagement between local health workers and the community would be beneficial in both increasing positive health behaviors, and increasing public trust in local health authorities [47,48].…”

Essential Public Health Competencies for Medical Students: Establishing a Consensus in Family Medicine

“…[4][5][6][7][8][9] In addition to curricular changes, organizational task forces created frameworks that emphasized the importance of interprofessional population health curricula in health professions training. [10][11][12][13][14] Despite these initiatives, it remains unclear how to optimally integrate PH teaching and which competencies to emphasize or include in medical education curricula.…”

The Role of the Clinical and Translational Science Awards Program in Improving the Quality and Efficiency of Clinical Research

“…The ultimate aim is to mobilize communities to (1) identify their own health needs and the role of AHCs in framing a response to those needs, (2) work with academic partners on the design of clinical trials to develop evidence-based practices, (3) act as leaders in communicating about health research and the implementation of new methods of managing health issues, and (4) work with AHCs to evaluate existing practices. 6 Partnerships exist at all levels, from the immediate community surrounding a CTSA-associated institution, to a county-, regional-, or state-wide program, to a network that includes multiple states, a section of the country, and/or other areas of the world. Communities may be defi ned by location, demographic or ethnic composition, a shared exposure, or a particular rare or common disease.…”