Community Engaged Teaching, Research and Practice: A Catalyst for Public Health Improvement

Abstract

The interdisciplinary field of public health promotes health among populations. Complex public health needs persist in the United States, influenced largely by social and structural determinants. Viable solu tions require creativity and a commitment to change the status quo, facilitated by collaborative problem-solving. Public health education programs in the United States have a role in developing a workforce that is equipped to support these processes. Cornell University’s Master of Public Health (MPH) Program sought to identify opportunities to simultaneously support student learning, community capacity development, and community- centered action for public health improvement. A sequential two- phased approach was used to define curricular components and indicated pedagogical methods. Two key themes emerged: alignment of skills and abilities needed and desired by current and future public health workers and the strategic role community engaged learning could play in advancing learning and improving public health. Community engaged learning was specifically adopted as the primary pedagogical approach for a series of three courses in the Cornell MPH Program, focused on needs assessment, intervention planning, and monitoring and evaluation for improvement. These courses were designed with community collaborators, with goals to build student knowledge and community capacity in 12 domains and improve community health outcomes via collaborative work. An additional review was conducted to explore literature related to community- based public health practice including collective impact, community organizing, and Public Health 3.0. To “ground truth” the emergent themes, and to develop a locally relevant understanding, the literature review was cross- referenced with notes taken during a series of informal semi- structured interviews, community meetings, and focus groups with frontline public health workers, conducted as a part of the MPH Program’s community engagement and strategic planning processes. Thematic analysis was conducted across the literature and qualitative input to summarize priority capacity building focal areas for frontline workers involved in collaborative public health work at community levels. These findings were then cross- walked with the first phase to present a comprehensive picture of competence needs of public health practitioners across sectors. community partners support, low teaching/mentoring ratios, and M&E processes.