Promoting Health at the Community Level

Promoting Health at the Community Level speaks directly to the challenges that foundations and funding agencies face in supporting the work of community-based groups.  The seven case studies included in the book correspond to different multi-site initiatives funded by The Colorado Trust, a Denver-based health foundation.  Each case study describes the initiative approach, the type of health promotion activities developed by community-based grantees, the various resources and guidelines provided by the foundation, the initial outcomes of the initiative, and lessons learned. In addition, the final chapter pulls together the findings from the seven case studies into a summary set of recommendations for grantmakers, addressing issues such as the level and duration of funding, different approaches to technical assistance, networking among grantees, and the development of healthy funder-grantee relationships.

This book is the first book to provide a systematic examination of community-based health promotion. Edited by Doug Easterling, Kaia Gallagher, and Dora Lodwick, this innovative text uses seven case studies to evaluate community-driven health promotion and present promising strategies for initiating and sustaining community-based efforts. Individual chapters describe real-world, multi-site health initiatives and summarize their evaluation outcomes.

Presenting different funding scenarios within varying community settings, the case studies cover a wide range of topics, including

• School health education
• Teen pregnancy prevention
• Volunteer service for rural seniors
• Violence prevention
• Home-visitation services

Promoting Health at the Community Level illustrates a number of different strategies for strengthening the capacity of community-based organizations to develop and implement health promotion programs. The editors provide knowledge-based approaches to encouraging local leaders, nurturing appropriate networks, and creating health promotion programs suited to unique community contexts.

Offering unique lessons for community-based coalitions and supportive organizations, this book will also inspire academics and students to further explore this innovative approach to health promotion and disease prevention.

Douglas V. Easterling, Ph.D.

Doug Easterling is the founder and director of the Division for Community-Based Evaluation, within the Center for the Study of Social Issues at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Through the Division, he served as the principal investigator on evaluations of the Winston-Salem Foundation’s initiative to build social capital and the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation’s initiative to improve race relations. Doug has also assisted the Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro, the Warner Foundation, the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation and The Conservation Fund in designing evaluation systems and clarifying program intent.

From 1992-1999, Doug served as the Director of Research and Evaluation at The Colorado Trust. In this capacity, he commissioned evaluations of the foundation’s initiatives (including the seven studies described in this book) and facilitated the foundation’s process of learning from the results.

Doug has published articles and books on the topics of program evaluation, community-based health promotion and nuclear waste policy. He also teaches the evaluation module for the Health Forum’s fellowship programs and served on the CENTERED Blue Ribbon Panel, which was convened by CDC to improve the evaluation of projects that aim to reduce racial/ethnic disparities in health. In February 2002, Doug delivered the Fischer Francis Trees & Watts Keynote Address at the Community Trust Conference in New Zealand. Doug holds a Ph.D. in Public Policy and Management from the University of Pennsylvania, an M.A. in Quantitative Psychology from the University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill), and a B.A. from Carleton College.

Kaia M. Gallagher, Ph.D.

Kaia Gallagher, Ph.D. is the Director of Evaluation and Manager for the Center for Research Strategies LLC, a research and evaluation consulting firm in Denver, Colorado. With over 25 years of experience, she currently serves as the evaluator for a number of Federal, state and local programs, focusing in particular on the effectiveness of prevention programs designed to change the risk behaviors of youth.

Dr. Gallagher’s career focus has been on promoting the use of strategically collected information to enhance the development and performance of programs in the health, education and social service sectors. In this capacity, she provides consulting services in the areas of strategic planning, needs assessment, outcome evaluations and the development of outcome assessment tools. She also develops business plans that disseminate research models into marketable products and services.

Formerly, Dr. Gallagher worked within a number of evaluation offices within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services including the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation. She currently provides evaluation services to USDHHS programs funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Office of Adolescent Pregnancy and Parenting, the Family Youth and Services Bureau and the Health Resources and Services Administration.

Dr. Gallagher is an Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Preventive Medicine and Biometrics within the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center.

She is a member of the board of directors for the National Organization of Adolescent Pregnancy, Parenting and Prevention and earned her Ph.D. in Sociology from Brown University.

Dr. Dora G. Lodwick founded the REFT Institute, Inc., which focuses on research, evaluation, facilitation and training, in 1997. Dora has evaluated programs and other initiatives in the areas of participatory, community-based development, leadership development, health, immigrants and refugees, aging, and environmental impacts and published in several of those areas for over 20 years. She has worked extensively in Latin America and speaks Portuguese and Spanish.

She has been a university professor for 15 years at Miami University of Ohio, Oregon State University, and University of Denver where she established the Applied Social Research and Evaluation MA. She has served the Society for Applied Sociology (SAS) as President, Board Member, and in other capacities, as well representing SAS on the Commission on Applied and Clinical Sociology. She has also held leadership positions in the American Sociological Association.