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Key research themes
1. How can community engagement and participatory methods enhance the accuracy and responsiveness of Community Health Needs Assessments (CHNAs)?
This research theme focuses on integrating community voices and participatory approaches into CHNAs to ensure that health assessments more accurately reflect lived experiences, improve relevance, and foster ownership among community members. It addresses limitations of conventional CHNAs that rely heavily on quantitative data and expert perspectives by foregrounding qualitative insights and collaborative processes. Understanding and operationalizing effective community engagement in CHNAs is critical to promote equity, cultural relevance, and more tailored health interventions.
Key finding: The paper synthesizes 169 studies demonstrating that meaningful community engagement through mixed methods (qualitative, quantitative, mixed-methods) and triangulation of evidence from service providers and residents enriches... Read more
Key finding: This study introduced a model using videotaped, coded interviews with community members to inject qualitative community voices directly into CHNAs, highlighting how residents perceive culture as a health resource and desire... Read more
Key finding: The study implemented a multiphased community-engaged research methodology complementing CHNAs during COVID-19, illustrating how rapid, mixed methods community involvement captures disproportionate impacts on marginalized... Read more
Key finding: Based on experiences in South Carolina, this work conceptualizes a community engagement framework blending lessons from prior programs and emerging resources to promote sustainable, inclusive community assessments and plans.... Read more
Key finding: This participatory action research in an urban community evidences that embedding community participation and empowerment in CHNAs leads to improved community ownership, better priority setting, and strengthens capacities to... Read more
2. What pedagogical approaches and tools effectively prepare health professionals to conduct Community Health Needs Assessments emphasizing population health?
This theme investigates educational innovations and curricular designs that equip health profession students, particularly nursing and health administration students, with competencies in CHNA execution. It addresses teaching strategies that integrate theoretical knowledge of social determinants of health with practical assessment skills, focusing on interprofessional, cross-sectoral collaboration and application of mixed-methods in community settings for population health improvement.
Key finding: This paper describes how integrating CHNA activities into baccalaureate nursing practicum through multi-sector partnerships enhances students’ competencies in social determinants of health, community assessment, and... Read more
Key finding: Through a national educational dialogue, this work identifies best practices, core data sets, and curricular tools for teaching CHNAs to undergraduate and graduate health students. It highlights the importance of experiential... Read more
3. How do structured community empowerment and multi-sector collaboration initiatives translate CHNA insights into sustained health outcomes and health equity?
This research area examines frameworks and models where CHNA findings inform community-driven, multi-sector interventions to reduce health disparities and foster systemic change. It emphasizes the role of sustained partnerships, coalition building, and capacity enhancement as critical mechanisms by which health assessment leads to implementation of evidence-based interventions. Understanding these dynamics is key to bridging assessment and action toward population-level cancer prevention and chronic disease management.
Key finding: This study documents the application of a structured community coalition model in a historically underserved urban area, resulting in a Community Action Plan with 15 evidence-based interventions co-developed with residents... Read more
Key finding: Using a longitudinal mixed-methods design, this evaluation revealed that community empowerment initiatives, supported by participatory structures and external partnerships, engendered improvements in mental well-being... Read more
Key finding: This project co-developed standardized process and outcome indicators with Community Health Workers (CHWs) to better capture the full scope and impact of CHW practice, enhancing program evaluation and enabling data... Read more
Key finding: This systematic review synthesizes evidence on mechanisms and effectiveness of community involvement in prioritizing health service coverage. It identifies a predominance of consultative participation with limited depth,... Read more