Community Engagement

Community Engagement Program Pilot Awardees

Title: Flint Sleep Project

Partners: John Sonnega, PhD, Assistant Professor at UM-Flint (Academic Partner); and Lee Bell, Project Director, Neighborhood Round Table in Flint, MI (Community Partner)

Community of Focus: African Americans living in Flint, MI

Abstract: Sleep deficits and disorders have been associated with a myriad of health problems. The health impact of sleep is indicative of an unmet public health need particularly for vulnerable minority populations. Disparities in sleep exist by socioeconomic status and race, yet little is known about best approaches for improving sleep in vulnerable communities. The Flint Sleep Project has identified communities of interest by GIS mapping sleep questions from the Speak to Your Health! Community Survey implemented in Flint, MI. The project will engage local communities to heighten awareness of sleep deficits, and to identify promising avenues for improvement in sleep quality.


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Title: A Community-University Partnership to Develop Technology-Enhanced Patient-Empowerment Programs for People with Chronic Kidney Disease: Capacity Building, Feasibility Assessments, and Study Refinement

Partners: Kai Zheng PhD, Assistant Professor, Health Management & Policy, School of Public Health, UM-Ann Arbor (Academic Partner); Erica Perry, MSW, Peer Mentoring Program Specialist, National Kidney Foundation of Michigan (Community Partner); Mark Newman, PhD, Assistant Professor, School of Information, UM-Ann Arbor (Academic Partner); and Tiffany Veinot, PhD, Assistant Professor, School of Information, UM-Ann Arbor(Academic Partner)

Community of Focus: Individuals and their families living with chronic kidney disease in Michigan, especially ethnic and racial minorities who are disproportionately affected.

Abstract: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is the ninth leading cause of death in the U.S., affecting the lives of more than 30 million Americans. To empower patients and their families, the National Kidney Foundation Michigan (NKFM) has developed several successful peer-driven support and education programs. However, the potential impact of these programs has been limited to those who can attend face-to-face trainings or consultations. To expand the reach and accessibility of these peer-driven empowerment programs, NKFM and a research group at the University of Michigan (UM) have been working together to establish a long-term community-university research partnership with the goal of jointly designing, developing, deploying, and evaluation technology-enhanced, peer-driven patient empowerment programs. This proposed pilot project will allow us to build upon the existing relationship between NKFM and UM to develop and launch a large-scale community-based participatory research initiative focused on understanding user needs and technical capabilities, designing and implementing novel technology-enhanced patient programs, and evaluating the impact of these new programs. This research initiative will leverage the program delivery expertise and experiential knowledge of NKFM staff, volunteers and clients along with the technological and scientific knowledge of UM researchers. Together, this project will create a strong research alliance that will be well-poised to translate research findings into practical outcomes that benefit the community of CKD patients throughout Michigan and beyond.


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Title: Genesee County Healthy Sexuality Project (GCHSP)

Partners: Daniel Kruger, Assistant Research Scientist, School of Public Health, UM-Ann Arbor (Academic Partner); Mark Valacak, Division Director, Department of Community Health, Genesee County Health Department (Community Partner); and Bettina Campbell, Director, YOUR Center (Community Partner)

Community of Focus: African-American adolescents and young adults ages 14-25 in Flint, Michigan

Abstract: African American in Flint, MI are disproportionately affected by Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs), compared to other racial groups in the county and counterparts in other geographic regions in the state. The Genesee County Health Sexuality Project (GCHSP) will facilitate the development of a proposal for a comprehensive intervention program for STIs among African American adolescents and young adults in Flint, MI. A partnership consisting of representatives from the Genesee County Health Department, UM's School of Public Health, and YOUR Center, a community-based organization in Flint will examine STI incidence patterns, as well as risk and protective factors related to STIs in Flint; compile best practices from the intervention literature and identify promising practice through the literature and a review of other organizations emerging work; determine the feasibility of evidence-based or promising interventions in Flint via focus groups and interviews; and determine how to best integrate existing resources in a comprehensive intervention program.


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Title: Engaging the Community in Health Care Research: Creating a Community/Academic Partnership

Partners: Barbara Brush, PhD, Assistant Professor, Center for Health Promotion, School of Nursing, UM-Ann Arbor (Academic Partner); Sharon Lapides, LMSW, Family Care Network (Community Partner); and Janet Baiardi, PhD, Research Fellow, School of Nursing, UM-Ann Arbor(Academic Partner)

Community of Focus: Children, families, and communities living in Detroit and Southeast Michigan

Abstract: Innovative strategies between community and academic partners are necessary to engage diverse populations in the research process. Community-based participatory research (CBPR) promotes collaborations that involve both partners equally to develop interventions that best address the needs of community stakeholders. Despite many successful community/academic partnerships based on this principle, a number a partnerships fail to sustain themselves due to mistrust, divergent goals, and/or unequal power gradients between the participants and/or the community. Utilizing principles of CBPR and guided by a theoretical framework that emphasizes community knowledge acquisitions form the community itself, this feasibility study aims to develop a new community/academic partnership between the University of Michigan School of Nursing and the Family Care Network (FCN) in Detroit, Michigan. The partnership's primary aim is to engage the target community in identifying and prioritizing its health care needs and establishing research goals to address these needs. This approach draws on Lasker, Weiss, and Miller's (2001) model of synergy and will use a descriptive qualitative design to collect and analyze group perspectives. This data will guide the development of a research advisory group, consisting of community and academic partners, whose aim is to develop a strategic plan and determine future steps for collaboration.


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Title: MPOWER Jr. / YMCA Childhood Obesity Intervention in the Community Environment (MY Choice)

Partners: Susan Woolford, MD, MPH, Clinical Assistant Professor, General Pediatrics, Medical School, UM-Ann Arbor (Academic Partner); Diane Carr, Senior Program Director, Ann Arbor YMCA (Community Partner); and Bethany Sallinen, PhD, Assistant Professor, Pediatrics-Child Behavior Health, UM-Ann Arbor(Academic Partner)

Community of Focus: Children and their parents Children ages 7 to 11 (BMI > 95th percentile) and their parents living in the Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti surrounding areas

Abstract: The prevalence of childhood obesity has increased remarkably over the past 3 decades, with the most dramatic increases noted among low-income and minority children. Obese children are significantly more likely than their normal weight peers to suffer from illnesses such as sleep apnea, depression, and type 2 diabetes. In addition, obesity in childhood is associated with severe obesity later in life, leading to greater morbidity, premature mortality, and higher medical expenditures. Finding effective treatments for obesity is a public health priority. The American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend family-focused multidisciplinary care, typically in a tertiary care setting, when weight management in the primary care office has failed to achieve appropriate results. As part of the Pediatric Comprehensive Weight Management Center at the University of Michigan, the research staff implemented the MPOWER (Michigan Pediatric Outpatient Weight Evaluation and Reduction) Program. This family-focused multidisciplinary intervention for obese adolescents has furnished promising preliminary results. However, through the program it was noted that most of our patients are from low-income families. They struggle to afford nutritious foods, and to access safe exercise venues where parents and children can exercise together. There was also a great demand for interventions targeting younger children. In addition, it has become clear that the medical setting is not ideal for weight management programs when exercise facilities, family involvement, and weekly visits are required. Hence, a partnership was developed with the Ann Arbor YMCA to move multidisciplinary obesity care into the community. Due to the commitment and the national leadership of the YMCA to combat childhood obesity, this new collaboration has the potential to result in an effective model for the treatment of obesity in the community that has national reach.


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Title: SLATE: A feasibility study of a tran-disciplinary service learning program to promote interest in service disadvantaged populations through community-university partnerships

Partners: Robert Anderson, Research Professor, Medical Education, UM-Ann Arbor (Academic Partner); Joan Doughty, Executive Director, Community Action Network (Community Partner); Julie Ober Allen, Project Director, School of Public Health, UM-Ann Arbor (Academic Partner); Aaron Pressel, Hikone Site Director, CAN (Community Partner); and Derrick Miller, Bryant Site Director, CAN (Community Partner)

Community of Focus: Graduate students at University of Michigan along with community organizations and the families and children that they serve

Abstract: Social and health disparities have become a national priority. They take a disproportionately heavy toll on the nation's children growing up in poverty. Many professions are struggling to find ways to deal with disparities. Two notable trends include the use of multi-disciplinary teams and service-learning, both of which are well suited to community-university partnerships. The Service Learning and Tran-disciplinary Education program, (SLATE), University of Michigan faculty-student coalition, and Community Action Network (CAN), a service agency which works with a largely minority and low-income population, have successfully partnered to plan this project. The study team proposes to investigate short-term outcomes related to knowledge, skills, and attitudes for graduate students involved in a trans-disciplinary service-learning program as part of a community-university partnership. The study will also determine the feasibility of the program and the satisfaction of the community organization staff and community member in working with the graduate student teams. While the study is anticipated to have a positive impact on the graduate students, community organizations, and the children and families involved, the main focus is on the graduate students and building their interpersonal and professional capacity to reduce social and health disparities.


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Title: The Four Square Society: Understanding the impact of urban gardening in reducing food security in Ypsilanti, Michigan

Partners: Larry Gant, Professor, School of Social Work, UM-Ann Arbor (Academic Partner); and Amanda Edmonds, Executive Director, Growing Hope (Community Partner)

Abstract: The Four Square Society aims to understand the role of small-plot, urban gardening in reducing food insecurity among low-income households in Ypsilanti, Michigan. This proposal seeks support to develop and refine (1) a novel food garden design 4'X4' raised bed gardens that can be affordably constructed and maintained by low-income, low resource urban households in food insecure communities, and (2) to test and refine evaluation methods for small scale urban gardening initiatives. We propose to deploy forty small, 4'X4' (hence, 'four square') gardens in 40 homes in Ypsilanti, Michigan in Spring 2009 and use a wait-list control study design to implement 40 additional gardens in the Fall 2009. Through piloting a participatory research model with low-income individuals and households in both home garden and community garden settings, the Four Square Society seeks to answer the question "What Can You Grow In A Square?". Cumulative data from participating households will help to understand the volumetric, economic, and nutrient values of fruit and vegetable production in four by four foot raised beds. Among households, we seek to assess the impact of this activity on the family food budget, behavior change re: fruit and vegetable consumption, and change in perceived access to healthy food. Through interviewing and surveying participants, the project will also assess what support factors-for example, material resources, technical assistance, general education, or garden mentoring~ contribute to the success of participants' efforts. Finally, this pilot project will seek to refine the methods best used for tracking garden production as relating to weighing, counting, photographing, logging, and other ways to document what is produced.

Growing Hope, an Ypsilanti-based community organization dedicated to helping people improve their lives and communities through gardening and healthy food access, will serve as the program delivery lead, both in identifying participating households, providing all project resources (raised beds, plants, etc) and technical support, and connecting participants with social networks or mentorship around gardening. Dr. Larry Gant from U-M School of Social Work (with interns from the Schools of Social Work and Natural Resources) will work with Growing Hope to co-lead the research design process and oversee development and analysis of evaluation tools.


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Title: Integrating traditional healing and behavioral health services for urban American Indians

Partners: Jerilyn Church, Executive Director, American Indian Health & Family Services of Southeastern Michigan, Inc. (Community Partner); and Joseph Gone, Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, UM-Ann Arbor (Academic Partner)

Abstract: Situated at American Indian Health and Family Services (AIHFS), an urban American Indian (AI) health clinic in Detroit, this 12-month study will design a practical service integration model for incorporating AI traditional healing practices within conventional mental health and substance abuse treatments (i.e., "behavioral health" [BH] services). The AI community in Detroit has expressed a desire for access to traditional healing to meet its health care needs. Despite casual references in the scientific literature to therapeutic integration within health services throughout "Indian country", little attention has been devoted to the complex details of such integration. This project will serve as a vanguard for tackling these complexities in close consultation with traditional healers, service providers, program administrators, and community consumers. Up to 50 representatives from these constituencies will participate in ethnographic interviews or focus groups. Responses will be qualitatively interpreted using thematic content analysis. A practical service integration model based on these findings will then serve as the foundation for a Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) grant application to pilot, assess, revise, and disseminate this service integration model for interested researchers and community organizations. Additionally, immediately following the project year, we aim to publish the results of this inquiry as the first installment in a research program dedicated to effectively integrating AI traditional healing and BH services. Given the high level of interest in this subject in AI communities-and the dearth of literature that might guide such efforts-we expect passionate engagement with our findings. In regard to translation research more generally, this project privileges community needs and interests so as to yield an inversion of the usual "bench to bedside" approach, representing instead the harnessing of research strategies to the study of under-appreciated traditional healing practices as they move from AI communities toward integration and legitimization within clinical settings.

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