Engaging Low-Income and Minority Communities in Prioritizing Community Health Benefits

The project: This project, a collaboration between the University of Michigan and Detroit nonprofit Friends of Parkside, proposes a new approach to address health disparities by meaningfully engaging communities in decision-making to prioritize community health needs. The literature shows that community engagement, improved health, and poverty reduction are all interconnected. This project evaluated the use of a simulation exercise, CHAT (CHoosing All Together), to engage underserved, minority community members in setting priorities for community health benefit.

The process: Using CHAT, participants prioritized competing needs for limited resources. CHAT sessions were held in Detroit and the broader Wayne County area, Washtenaw County, Michigan's "thumb" area, and northwest Michigan. Decision makers at nonprofit health care organizations were invited to attend the sessions to see which community priorities arose and then help share the findings.

Susan Dorr Goold, U-M Medical School 

Zachary Rowe, Friends of Parkside 

Karen Calhoun, Michigan Institute for Clinical and Health Research (MICHR) 

Jen Skillicorn, Center for Bioethics and Social Sciences in Medicine (CBSSM) 

Maryn Lewallen, Center for Bioethics and Social Sciences in Medicine (CBSSM)