From Roots to Results A Qualitative Case Study of the Evolution of a Public Health Leadership Institute Building Capacity in Collaborating for Equity and Justice

• Published in: Health education & behavior Vol. 46; no. 1_suppl; pp. 33S - 43S
• Main Authors: Wolf, Lesley, Vigna, Abra J., Inzeo, Paula Tran, Ceraso, Marion, Wolff, Tom
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA Sage Publications, Inc 01.10.2019; SAGE Publications; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: Adaptation; Alienation; Behavior Change; Benchmarking; Capacity Building; Capacity building approach; Case reports; Case Studies; Change agents; Coalitions; Coding; Communications; Communities; Community Change; Community health; Community Involvement; Community Relations; Criminal justice policy; Curricula; Curriculum Development; Educational Change; Elementary Secondary Education; Environmental changes; Environmental policy; Evolution; Fairness; Health Behavior; Health disparities; Health Education; Health Promotion; Leadership; Leadership Training; Organizational Change; Organizational power; Partnerships; Policy making; Power; Principles; Program Descriptions; Program Evaluation; Public buildings; Public Health; Qualitative research; Social Differences; Social factors; Social justice; Statewide Planning; Story Telling; Storytelling; System effectiveness; Teams; Teamwork; Wisconsin; community coaching; health promotion; qualitative methods; public health; leadership; capacity building
• ISSN: 1090-1981; 1552-6127
• DOI: 10.1177/1090198119853616

Policy, systems, and environmental change are now widely accepted as critical to sustaining improvements in community health. Evidence suggests that such systems-level change is most effective when driven by community-based partnerships. Yet, after more than three decades of building community-based partnership work, health inequities have continued to deepen. To address health inequities, current and historical distributions of power are increasingly recognized as important considerations in efforts to ensure all individuals have the opportunity to attain their full health potential (i.e., achieving health equity). Building on social determinants of health literature, social injustice and powerlessness are put forth as fundamental causes of health inequities. Focusing on power as a root cause of health and health equity through application of Wolff and colleagues’ six principles requires substantial changes in contemporary public health practice. This case study uses document analysis of a single case, the Community Teams Program, to assess the evolution of a statewide public health leadership program’s efforts to build the capacity of coalition-based teams to catalyze community change in line with Wolff and colleagues’ principles. Deductive, selective coding of the materials surface four themes in the program adaptations: (1) the need to focus on power as a root cause, (2) shifting power through relationship building, (3) storytelling as a way to shift narrative, and (4) building mechanisms into the curriculum that hold coalitions accountable for applying and sustaining learned skills. The themes demonstrate philosophical, pedagogical, and organizational changes to center power building approaches in health promotion. Findings are triangulated by reflections from the program director and recorded reflections of participants captured in existing evaluation data.