Bridging Academic and Community Resources

Collaboration between academic institutions, public sector agencies, private foundations, health care providers, non-profit organizations and citizens is vital to creating productive, healthy neighborhoods and communities. The Office of Community Programs (OCP) brings an expertise in working collaboratively with stakeholders to develop programs that have a direct, positive impact on the health of local communities. 

Recent Programs

Combining expertise in public health with an in-depth understanding of community needs, OCP works with communities to increase health access through innovative programs and services. Recent programs include: 

• Developing much-needed oral health services in community health centers and schools. 
• Offering innovative educational programs that anticipate the needs of the community, including: medical interpreter training , and dental training for primary care providers. 
• Assessment and implementation strategies to assist communities to develop new health centers or expand the capacity of existing health centers. 
• Developing a foster care evaluation services ( FaCES ) program to identify the health problem of children entering the Foster Care System. 

Guiding Principles 

The following are some of the academic and public health principles that guide the development of OCP programs and services: 

• Integrate the perspectives of public health and clinical medicine based on lessons learned from longstanding relationships with community partners. 
• Work collaboratively with community partners to explore innovations in primary care that foster culturally sensitive health care. 
• Analyze the needs of the community and develop programs that address the complex factors related to planning, organizing, financing and managing community-based health programs. 
• Support health professions students to develop the skills necessary to identify community needs and create or modify health care programs to solve them.