Vision and Mission Statement

Vision: Community health and health equity will be achieved within a context of health care and race, ethnicity, gender, age and socioeconomic status.

Mission: The mission of the Center for Health Equity is to facilitate improvements in health care delivery and health outcomes in order to optimize community health and eliminate health disparity, using tools that empower indigenous leaders and communities to develop, implement and evaluate health programs through research, education, training, advocacy and the practical application of evaluation principles and methods.

Activities of The Center for Health Equity

The work of the Center focuses on understanding and eliminating health disparity, (the presence of population specific differences in disease, health outcomes or access to care). Health disparity whether due to race/ethnicity, income/economic status, health insurance, education, gender, age or geographical factors, is essentially a social problem with medical implications. The problem of health disparity requires a robust, dynamic, comprehensive, and flexible approach that is community- driven, if the problem is to be eliminated. The work of The Center for Health Equity focuses on community development that includes capacity and infrastructure, which is one of the model axes determined by the CDC to be essential to eliminating health disparity. Moreover, the Center develops innovative approaches to address socioeconomic, behavioral and psychosocial factors that appear to play an important role in this disparity. Thus, the Center’s activities further its goals through the provision of research, education, training, technical assistance and the practical application of evaluation principles and methods.

Through an emphasis on total community involvement, the Center for Health Equity is responsive to community needs through service to rural, minority and underserved populations. The Center is staffed by a talented multidisciplinary team with expertise in public health, community development, research, and evaluation. These individuals have a long history of working with minority groups and a proven track record of successfully reshaping the perinatal system of care in rural counties to maximize limited resources and adapt to managed-care induced changes in service delivery. Moreover, the Center has an extensive network of contacts with rural and minority health agencies, especially in the Panhandle of Florida including health departments, rural hospitals, Hospice, local Area Health Education Centers, and physicians. This unique combination of education, skills, experience and considerable public service involvement foster the ability of the Center to focus on specific activities to address programs in public health and community preventive health services for the benefit of the community. These include the following:

a. Research

• Research the root causes of health disparities through innovative experimental designs that are community-based and inclusive of elderly, rural, minority and underserved populations.
• Development, implementation and evaluation of community-driven intervention programs aimed at eliminating health disparities.
• Collection of health-related data in collaboration with communities to effectively evaluate the implementation and impact of community health initiatives.

• Community facilitation for health program development. These activities are aimed at community organizations, to develop community action plans for preventive health care and health service delivery
• Provision of program assessment and evaluation services for community-based nonprofit organizations and public health entities.
• Provide consultation and direction to community groups, public health entities and individual community advocates to effectively develop, implement and evaluate community health initiatives, particularly in efforts to eliminate disparities in health.

c. Training
As a student-centered facility, the Center provides students with:

• Community placement experience and curricula, providing ample opportunities for community application of asset-based community capacity development in the health and social service arena. Students have access to community initiatives that address racial disparity, access to health care, asset mapping, and the lack of community resources.
• Practical tools and curricula for communicating respect for cultural beliefs, customs and values through teachings and the practical application of cultural competency
• Knowledge and practical application of the interlinking context of biology, family, culture and community.