Skip to main content
. 2017 May 4;59(3-4):333–362. doi: 10.1002/ajcp.12142
No Name of the intervention/partnership Context Problem Original partnership Cause Collective action strategy
1 The Long Beach HOPE (Health, Opportunities, Problem‐solving and Empowerment) project (Long Beach, California) Community of approximately 30,000 Cambodians, characterized by a lack of political involvement, low‐paying jobs, unsafe working conditions, and high poverty and welfare rates. The Cambodian community is still suffering from impacts of war and violence in Cambodia and racial profiling in the welfare system A high rate of sexual harassment in youth Between a community‐based organization (Asian Communities for Reproductive Justice) including some academic members (postdoc) and community members (HOPE members, i.e., young Cambodian girls) To involve youth as agents of change in addressing sexual harassment in youth Empowering youth in addressing systemic and individual challenges to sexual harassment in youth
2 The Latino Health for All Coalition (LHFA), (Kansas City, Kansas) Latino residents of Wyandotte County (26.3%), Kansas, mostly first‐generation, low‐income, uninsured, and with low levels of education. Principally of Mexican descent (81%). Latinos living in Kansas City have a life expectancy 11 years shorter than Whites, and are nearly 1½ times more likely to die from diabetes A high prevalence of diabetes and cardiovascular diseases and related risk factors of unhealthy diets, physical inactivity, and limited access to health services Between academic partners (University of Kansas's Work Group for Community Health and Development and Juntos Center for Advancing Latino Health at the Kansas University Medical Center) and a community organization (El Centro). (Was later extended to include another 40 + organizations, including community organizations, government agencies, and faith‐based institutions) To reduce diabetes and cardiovascular disease by promoting healthy nutrition, physical activity, and access to health services among Latinos in Kansas City/Wyandotte County Drawing on the Health for All model, promote environmental changes through targeted, community‐determined and ‐led interventions at different ecological levels, which will result in behavior changes and consequently improved health outcomes for the community
3 (WOEIP) (West Oakland, California) A vibrant community (approx. 22,000 persons) of predominately low‐income African American and Latino residents located on the San Francisco Bay. Bounded by freeways, this community is exposed to thousands of moving and stationary sources of diesel pollution. Important background of social activism in the neighborhood High youth asthma rates and diesel truck traffic in the neighborhood of West Oakland Between a research partner (the Pacific Institute) and a community organization (West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project) To address the neighborhood's disproportionate exposure to diesel truck air pollution Addressing, through a range of intersecting policy and advocacy efforts, disproportionate pollution exposure in the neighborhood (environmental changes) and increase community participation in decision making
4 Food security in Round Valley Indian Reservation community (Northern California) Round Valley is a rural and isolated Indian Reservation in Mendocino County, in Northern California (approx. 4000 persons). The community is characterized by low education and income levels, high unemployment, high rate of obesity and diabetes, but also by progressive values, and community activism. A third of families receive food from a food distribution program. There is no nearby supermarket, only one local grocery store (selling overpriced and packaged foods) and a gas station that sells food. There is a lack of Native‐owned shops or stands at the farmers' market Food insecurity in the rural Indigenous Reservation of Round Valley Between an academic partner (the University of California) and a coalition of community organizations (including community leaders, Round Valley Indian Health Center staff, California Indian Health Service representatives) To identify and address upstream causes of food insecurity in a rural California reservation Addressing systemic barriers to food access through policies and interventions
5 Partnership with the Healthy City Committee of New Castle (New Castle, Indiana) New Castle is a rural town whose automobile industry was central to the economy. The population has declined in recent decades, as a result of declines in the automobile industry. The community uses to help itself and utilizes the resources available; the pre‐existing Healthy City Committee is an example. The community is characterized by a conservative mindset Low individual health indicators and health behaviors in New Castle, including high rates of smoking, problematic dietary choices, low physical activity, and other Between an academic partner (Indiana University's School of Nursing) and a community organization (the Healthy City Committee of New Castle) To promote healthier lifestyle in New Castle “Making the healthy choice the easy choice” through a variety of environmental (‘small p policy’) changes.
6 Vietnamese REACH for Health Initiative (VRHI) Coalition, (Santa Clara County, California) The Vietnamese community of Santa Clara County, California (102,841) is a large community with churches, pagodas, stores, restaurants, health providers, and community‐based organizations. Almost all Vietnamese‐Americans arrived as refugees after 1975, when the Vietnam War ended, and resulted for many in changes in socioeconomic status. Many households remain linguistically isolated. The main barrier to health remains access to affordable and culturally appropriate care. This community has many low‐income immigrants, but also an educated and acculturated pool of professionals with a strong ethnic identity A high rate of cervical cancer in Vietnamese‐American women in general The Vietnamese REACH for Health Initiative (VRHI) Coalition which was formed through a partnership between a community–academic research organization (Vietnamese Community Health Promotion Project, University of California) and a number of community organizations (including the Department of Public Health, health care organizations or organizations serving low‐income or recent Vietnamese immigrants, and community leaders) To increase cervical cancer awareness and screening (Pap test) and, more generally, to improve the health of the whole community of Vietnamese‐Americans of Santa Clara County Addressing individual, systemic (providers and health care system) and environmental (financial and cultural) barriers to cervical cancer screening
7 The Earth Crew project, Partnership between West Harlem Environmental Action (WE ACT) and Columbia University (West Harlem, New York) West Harlem is part of Northern Manhattan, comprising 627,000 low‐income to mid‐income African‐Americans and Latinos. The community has a rich and diverse population and cultural history, but disproportionate rates of disability and premature death (one in four children suffer from asthma). Six of the eight Manhattan diesel bus depots housing were sited in Northern Manhattan A high rate of asthma, and related morbidity and mortality in the neighborhood of West Harlem Between an academic partner (Columbia University's Children's Center for Environmental Health) and a community organization (West Harlem Environmental Action) To address the neighborhood poor air quality Addressing air pollution environmental injustice through policy changes and community leadership development
8 The Good Neighbor Program (Bayview Hunters Point, San Francisco, California) Bayview Hunters Point is an economically disadvantaged neighborhood of San Francisco, populated by African Americans, Asian Americans, and Pacific Islander Americans (30,000 persons). The environment is considered as a food desert, characterized by a lack of access to culturally appropriate, affordable, and healthy food, and making it difficult for local residents to access nutritious foods such as fruits and vegetables Food insecurity in Bayview Hunters Point's Neighborhood Between a community organization (Literacy for Environmental Justice), a consultant academic partner (research evaluator) and a local health department (San Francisco Department of Public Health) To increase the access to healthy food in the neighborhood (food security), and to decrease the display of and access to tobacco products Addressing the link between tobacco and food security and increase community accessibility to healthy food with policy and environmental efforts
No Name of the intervention/partnership Framing processes Opportunities Resources System and community changes achieved
1 The Long Beach HOPE project (Long Beach, California)—Health, opportunities, Problem‐solving, and empowerment project The partnership framed sexual harassment from a structural, social, and environmental viewpoint, instead of an individual one: “The personal is political” (Cheatham‐Rojas & Shen, 2003, p. 125). The solution was advocated in terms of student safety with a gender focus to meet the concern of local actors from schools. “Sexual harassment was thus framed as an issue of school safety for girls (…)” (Ibid, p. 130) Development of HOPE projects for Southeast Asian girls by the community organization (ACRJ) catalyzed the project (the Long Beach HOPE project was one of the two) Technical, professional skills in the ACRJ staff; Experience from the ACRJ staff in community organizing; Support for youth participation; Experiential knowledge from the HOPE members; Direction and action provided by youth in the community; Funding (e.g., stipend for participation; funding for project) District‐wide school policy changes including educational sessions provided at schools around sexual harassment, training to school interveners, improved grievance procedure to monitor and address incidents. This project has allowed to build capacities of the community partner. Khmer Girls in action, an independent community‐based organization, is an offshoot of this project. HOPE is now a vibrant community organization and plays an important role within the larger reproductive justice community
2 The Latino Health for All Coalition (LHFA), (Kansas City, Kansas) Health was framed as a social and complex issue with multiple causes. The resulting program was developed around different levels of interventions, targeting different behaviors and their social determinants, and taking into account a shared Latino culture Earlier participatory work around chronic disease prevention in Kansas City and testing of the Health for All Model of action laid the groundwork. This project developed in the context of a specific funding program of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Experience from a previous academic–Community Partnership in Kansas City (Health for all model); Skills and knowledge from academic partners; Skills, knowledge of the local context from the community partner; Existing tools to build community capacity and to monitor and evaluate activity and communicate (Community Tool Box and the Action Tool Kit); Funding, including a grant from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, National Institutes of Health A variety of physical, social, and environmental changes have been achieved at the individual, family, organizational, and community levels. The changes include (for instance) the creation of community gardens, a new soccer program for youth, and an expanded health fair with screening for diabetes and referrals to safety‐net clinics. The Coalition has been sustained and they have continued to be funded
3 West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project (WOEIP) (West Oakland, California) Diesel truck traffic was first framed as a safety and environmental justice health concern, but the problem was strategically framed as a health issue (instead of a traffic, or walkability one) when advocating for a solution (truck route ordinance) to local policy makers. “We could have said the truck route was about traffic. We could have said it was about walkability in the neighborhood. We could have said it was about a whole lot of things [but] we said it was about health” (Gonzalez et al., 2011, p. S169) An initial collaboration between the two partners laid the groundwork for a CBPR project. The collaboration's work drew attention from local media and the community. Then, the partnership received funding from the federal Environmental Protection Agency and the California Department of Health Services Expertise, skills, and knowledge from the academic partner; Technical expertise from a consulting firm; Experiential knowledge from the community partner; Policy‐maker allies; Funding from many private foundations (Bank of America Foundation, Firedoll Foundation, Wallace Alexander Gerbode Foundation, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Malcolm Pirnie, Inc., The San Francisco Foundation, and the Wells Fargo Foundation) Policy change, mainly a city ordinance for the implementation of a truck route in the neighborhood. There was also an increased community capacity to involve and train people in CBPR. Subsequently to the project, the partnership secured $22 million from the EPA to retrofit or replace old trucks and they significantly reduced pollution over a 5‐year period
4 Food security in Round Valley Indian Reservation community (Northern California) Food insecurity was first framed as a racial, structural, and environmental issue. “[Community members] pointed out that the absence of Native‐owned stands at the weekly farmers' market as well as its location in a mostly white area of town made Native people feel unwelcome.” (Jernigan et al., 2012, p. 650). The racial justice angle, which was seen as an “overwhelming and somewhat abstract” issue (Ibid, p. 650), was evacuated to focus on more actionable factors. The project developed thanks to funding from different agencies and the process was led and facilitated by the principal investigator Knowledge and expertise from academic partners; Leadership, experience, knowledge, and credibility of community leaders; Funding for the project itself and for specific miniprojects from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation New Connections Active Living Research program, California Endowment, and California Department of Transportation Social, physical, environmental, and policy changes including the creation of a Producers' Guild, which foster an integrated community supported agriculture and commodity food program, the addition of Electronic Benefits Transfer machine at the local market, the introduction of culturally appropriate foods at the local market and inclusion of vegetables, fruits, and food for people with diabetes at the grocery store. After successfully addressing issues related to food insecurity, the coalition garnered broader engagement and conducted more formal training. The initial work of the coalition built capacity and provided synergy for additional work
5 Partnership with the Healthy City Committee of New Castle (New Castle, Indiana) The health status (problem) of the community was framed in terms of deficit (compared to national goals and norms) to raise awareness. In this “conservative and anti‐regulatory” community (Minkler et al., 2006, p. 298), the solution was implemented in incremental changes, and advocated in terms of individual rights (“make the healthy choice the easy choice” (Ibid, p. 295)) instead of policy changes The pre‐existing community partner (Healthy City Committee of New Castle) had a mission of promoting the health of the city through multisectoral collaborations. A grant from the WK Kellogg Foundation funded the initial collaboration Knowledge and expertise from the academic partner; Experience, skills, and network from the community partner; Initial funding from the W. K. Kellogg Foundation Social, physical, environmental, and policy changes including a bill restricting indoor smoking in public places, an elaborated playground on City owned land, tree planting, and an initiative to develop a system of trails throughout the county
6 Vietnamese REACH for Health Initiative (VRHI) Coalition, (Santa Clara County, California) Cervical cancer screening was conceived of as an individual, medical, and systemic issue, with multiple pathways of intervention. “The VRHI Coalition concluded that improvements in knowledge alone would be insufficient to address the barriers, particularly financial and cultural, to Pap testing in a sustainable manner.” (Nguyen et al., 2006, p. 36) “The Logic Model for the [Community Action Plan] was based on the Pathways Model, which posits that healthy behaviors occur after successful negotiations of complex pathways, each of which contain predisposing, enabling, and reinforcing factors.”(Ibid, p. 36) The pre‐existence of the community–academic research organization (VCHPP), which had a long history of collaboration with the community, laid the ground work for the project. The project took form thanks to a CDC planning grant Expertise, skills, and knowledge from the Academic partner; Credibility of the community–academic research partner, VCHPP; Experience of the local and cultural context, professional skills, networks, and media of the community partners; Knowledge and resources of community members (not only leaders but also staff and lay health workers) in partner organizations; Credibility of the community members that provided reach into the community; Local assets (existing ethnic media, pagodas, CBO); Media from the partners; Funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Asian American Network for Cancer Awareness, Research and Training, and the American Cancer Society Cancer Control Social, physical, environmental, and policy changes such as the restoration of the Breast and Cervical Cancer Control Program in a culturally appropriated site and the establishment of a weekly low‐cost Pap clinic staffed by a Vietnamese‐speaking female physician. The project also built capacity in the community to mobilize and bring about further changes and projects (focusing, for instance, on breast cancer screening, colorectal screening, and tobacco use)
7 The Earth Crew project, Partnership between West Harlem Environmental Action (WE ACT) and Columbia University (West Harlem, New York) From the start, air pollution was framed as an environmental justice issue. “City‐wide benefit of public transportation services is Northern Manhattan's burden” (Vasquez et al., 2006, p. 103). One of the solutions carried out by the partnership involved initiating a legal complaint against a public agency, and the problem was reframed as a racial discrimination one. “Charging the MTA with siting diesel bus depots and parking lots disproportionately in minority neighborhoods in Northern Manhattan, WE ACT and its collaborators invoked Title VI's prohibition of racial discrimination (…)” (Ibid, p. 106) The existing partnership between the community (WE Act) and academic partners (Columbia University) facilitated the project Experience form previous background work between the two partners; Expertise, guidance, and knowledge from the academic partner; Expertise, local experience, and knowledge from the community partner in advocacy and community mobilization; Credibility of the partnership's research; Strong policy alliances; Medias; Funding from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) Policy change, mainly a substantial impact on the conversion of the Metropolitan Transport Authority bus fleet to clean diesel, the establishment, by the Environmental Protection Agency of permanent air monitoring in Harlem and other local and national “hot spots” and the development of an environmental justice policy at a state level. From this project, there was an empowered capacity in youth to address environmental justice issue in the neighborhood. WE ACT is still partnering with community‐based youth serving organizations, which helps them leverage resources and maximize their reach
8 The Good Neighbor Program (Bayview Hunters Point, San Francisco, California) Formed thanks to the Tobacco Free Project, the partnership first framed food insecurity according to tobacco food subsidiary. Food insecurity was viewed as an environmental justice issue linked to the corporate dominance of the food system: “The relationship between health and the corporate dominance of the food system became an integral part of the LEJ partnership's problem definition and later policy intervention” (Vasquez et al., 2007). The solution advocated to local policy makers was strategically linked with the community improvement priority of the city. “The city‐based priorities of redevelopment and community violence also may have served as windows of opportunity to produce an ideal environment for opening the discussion about food insecurity and its connection to community improvement.” (Ibid, p. 346) Existing community organizing work around environmental pollution and participatory research initiatives in the community, laid the groundwork for the project. Moreover, there were some efforts from the municipality to prioritize redevelopment and address food insecurity through environmental justice programs. The community organization (LEJ) was created and supported by the health departmet with this aim Knowledge, technical expertise and assistance from the health department and evaluator partner; Networks, allies (policy makers) and experience of the health department with community actors; Funding from the San Francisco Department of Public Health's Tobacco Free Project; Four city departments contributing staff, resources, and incentives to manage and sustain the program Physical, social, environmental, and policy changes, including the implementation of the Good Neighbor Program, a voluntary community food security program fostering the availability of fresh and healthy foods at affordable prices in the neighborhood, and the development of a city‐ and foundation‐sponsored initiative to expand the program. This initiative laid the ground for other work in other parts of the city (e.g., Health Retail San Francisco in the Bayview and Tenderloin area of the city). In 2013, a legislation that created Healthy Retail San Francisco was introduced