Linking health education, civic engagement, and research at a large Federally Qualified Health Center

Today, I wanted to take a brief look at a paper from California entitled “Linking health education, civic engagement, and research at a large Federally Qualified Health Center to address health disparities.”

The researchers, led by Melissa Chinchilla PhD from AltaMed, in Los Angeles, were focused on health equity at the health center level. In the paper, they argue that Black, Indigenous, and People of Color are disproportionately impacted by health inequalities that continue to be shaped by structural racism.

The study examined how a group of community health center stakeholders developed recommendations for how to embed community based participatory research (CBPR) in an ecosystem of community engagement to address health equity. Stakeholders viewed engagement in health equity research in a healthcare setting as requiring sustained internal and external relationships [emphasis mine].

I think those of us working in Boston Federally Qualified Community Health Centers could learn from Dr. Chinchilla’s research. We have the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers, but could be doing a much better job collaborating between health centers, with on-the ground groups, public health officials, universities, etc. And as we build these relationships, we need to keep an eye on long-term collaboration.

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