Our central value is partnership with all the communities with which we work. This entails lifting up their voices; starting from their strengths, assets, and needs; and engaging with them to preserve their dignity and culture.  Such participatory approaches ensure that our work is responsive, relevant, adapted, accepted, and sustainable.  Community participatory approaches are both a process and an outcome of our research and practice.  Our students appreciate the power of co-learning and co-creation of better futures with communities, and learn skills of communication, collaboration, problem-solving, and teamwork.

In our work, we consistently ask: How do we maintain equitable partnerships and keep the community and our partners at the center of our research and practice? How can we maximize the effectiveness of public health interventions through partnerships between community and academia?

Here are some of the community participatory approaches projects our faculty are currently engaged in:

Active Iowa

Rima Afifi & Natoshia Askelson

The Active Iowa research program is part of the Prevention Research Center on Rural Health at the CPH. This project will explore mechanisms to disseminate an evidence-based physical activity intervention to several rural counties in Iowa working with health departments and other community organizations.  This project builds on the success of Active Ottumwa that increased the physical activity of residents of Ottumwa, Iowa.  The project is guided by a statewide advisory board of relevant stakeholders.

Mental Health and Psychosocial Wellbeing of Youth in Humanitarian Settings

Rima Afifi

Building on previous interventions with Palestinian refugee youth in Lebanon, several community-engaged research projects are currently being developed to develop, implement and evaluate MHPSS programs for Syrian and Palestinian refugee youth in Lebanon, as well as their national counterparts.

Congolese Health Partnership

Will Story

The Congolese Health Partnership (CHP) is a collaboration between the Department of Community and Behavioral Health, the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics (UIHC), and leaders in the Congolese community in Johnson County. The CHP was established based on the growing number of Congolese refugees settling in Johnson County and the health care obstacles that these families face, including transportation, language, cultural differences, and difficulty navigating a complex health system. To bring the community together around an issue of mutual concern, the CHP focuses on maternal and child health. More information here.