The East Side Village Health Worker Partnership: integrating research with action to reduce health disparities

Abstract

This article describes the work of the East Side Village Health Worker Partnership as a case study of an initiative that seeks to reduce the disproportionate health risks experienced by residents of Detroit's east side. The Partnership is a community-based participatory research and intervention collaboration among academia, public health practitioners, and the east side Detroit community. The Partnership is guided by a steering committee that is actively involved in all aspects of the research, intervention, and dissemination process, made up of representatives of five community-based organizations, residents of Detroit's east side, the local health department, a managed care provider, and an academic institution. The major goal of the East Side Village Health Worker Partnership is to address the social determinants of health on Detroit's east side, using a lay health advisor intervention approach. Data collected from 1996 to 2001 are used here to describe improvements in research methods, practice activities, and community relationships that emerged through this academic-practice-community linkage.