This blog post is part of our quarterly series highlighting the work of Healthy People 2030 Champion organizations. Healthy People 2030 Champions are organizations recognized for their work to improve the health and well-being of people in their communities and to help achieve Healthy People 2030’s goals.
The University of Delaware’s (UD) Partnership for Healthy Communities (PHC) serves as a bridge between UD’s public health research and education efforts and the communities those efforts are meant to benefit — especially communities experiencing health and social inequities. PHC is focused on addressing social determinants of health in Delaware communities — building connections and promoting positive change at the ground level — and leads a number of distinct efforts to create positive change. “We’re here to support engaged research, expand service-learning opportunities, and build community capacity for improved health and well-being of our communities through community partnerships,” says Dr. Yendelela Cuffee, PHC’s Associate Director of Scholarship and Research. She also emphasizes the important role of community collaboration in PHC’s projects. “We’re working with the community and they’re working with us. We’re learning from them as they’re learning from us.”
Health for All: Creating Opportunities for Community-engaged Education and Research
One way PHC builds positive change at the ground level is through the Health for All (H4A) program. H4A provides workforce development opportunities and hands-on experience in population health for UD students. For example, UD’s novice public health professionals provide hands-on, street-level physical and mental health care, health education, and outreach — promoting better health care access and quality for the communities they serve.
PHC also offers paid undergraduate and graduate student fellowships, placing UD students into service learning, practica, or clinical rotations working with mobile health care vans, federally qualified health centers (FQHCs), or community organizations. “Students have the opportunity to work on real-world projects and learn about the importance of community connection,” says Dr. Cuffee. These efforts align closely with Healthy People 2030 developmental objective ECBP D08: Increase interprofessional prevention education in health professions training programs.
Beyond its immediate impact on provider education and community health, H4A also supports research and data collection that’s critically needed to assess and improve community health. H4A collects data on health outcomes and behaviors like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and vaccination rates — and collaborates with researchers on projects focused on related conditions. To assess the program’s impact, PHC and its partners track how many sites H4A’s health care providers visit, how many patients they serve, and how many students participate in the program.
Healthy Communities Delaware: Addressing Social Determinants of Health
PHC is part of the management team of Healthy Communities Delaware (HCD), an initiative to improve health, well-being, and equity in low-wealth Delaware communities. The HCD initiative is a joint public-private effort that includes the Delaware Division of Public Health and the Delaware Community Foundation. HCD partners with communities experiencing health and social inequities — often due to structural racism — to identify resident-driven priorities related to social determinants of health. This approach gives voice and power to those who know their community best, promoting healthy and vibrant neighborhoods.
HCD receives about $1.5 million in public funding each year, which it supplements with funding from Delaware businesses and industry leaders. The money is used to direct long-term, sustainable investment streams toward low-wealth Delaware communities. “We rely on people in the community to tell us what their priorities are, what the challenges are, and what resources are available,” says Dr. Cuffee. Once the communities identify improvements and investments that would benefit their neighborhoods, local organizational partners provide the infrastructure to carry out the work.
One example of this community-driven approach to improving social determinants of health is the work of HCD partner Central Baptist Community Development Corporation (CBCDC). CBCDC has been working to redevelop a former church into a community center and affordable housing. This approach will create safe and stable housing and improve the built environment in the Eastside Wilmington Neighborhood. During the COVID-19 pandemic, CBCDC developed a business plan for a food access initiative and made more than 8,000 home deliveries of fresh produce to residents — helping to reduce food insecurity and hunger.
Delaware’s State Health Improvement Plan: Planning for a Healthier Future
Since 2018, PHC has been at the helm of Delaware’s 5-year State Health Improvement Plan (SHIP). A SHIP is a best practice for state health departments and is required for accreditation by the Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB). Through this work, PHC supports Healthy People 2030 objective PHI-04: Increase the proportion of state and territorial jurisdictions that have a health improvement plan. And by charting the course toward accreditation, the organization also helps Delaware contribute to meeting objective PHI-01: Increase the proportion of state public health agencies that are accredited.
As manager of Delaware’s SHIP, PHC assists in conducting research, collecting data, and coordinating with the Delaware Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS), the state Division of Public Health (DPH), private companies, residents, educational institutions, and students. For example, PHC supported students and communities in conducting surveys in all 3 of Delaware’s counties to gather data for the SHIP.
PHC also brought together a coalition of 55 different agencies and groups, half of whom hadn’t participated in the SHIP process before. Dr. Cuffee emphasizes the value of getting broad and diverse input to reflect people’s priorities across the spectrum of health and community well-being. “We have participants from the health care sector, human and civil rights, health promotion, community planning, and others. So we have a really wide range of representation, and we’re only continuing to grow.”
Lessons Learned
PHC shares 3 key lessons that guide the organization’s day-to-day operations and plans for future initiatives.
Ensure community involvement and partnerships.
Dr. Cuffee emphasizes that “everything we do is a partnership. We want to make sure that our community members have a voice, that they have a seat at the table, they are in the discussions about what’s happening and informing us about what the needs are within our communities.” PHC applies this lesson by involving the community, as well as partners across different sectors, in their initiatives, including the SHIP process.
Promote and demonstrate inclusivity, opportunity, and equity.
By getting out into the community, promoting civic participation, and collaborating across UD, PHC actively includes community voices, responds to their needs, learns about and strengthens existing relationships with community partners, and works as a team when establishing new relationships with community partners. As Dr. Cuffee points out: “We want to make sure we have an even playing field as we’re working with our community partners and intentionally being collaborative.”
Use community-based research and evaluation.
PHC grounds its strategic initiatives in the real world with participatory data collection, research, and evaluation. Community members are involved in every stage of the process — from initial ideas and research all the way through to implementing strategies in the community.
Related Healthy People 2030 objectives:
