Our Programs

The Partners in Health and Housing Prevention Research Center features two signature programs of long standing.  One of these ongoing programs brings the community health worker model into the public housing setting, and the other is a novel community-driven survey of public housing residents. 

The Resident Health Advocate Program  trains public housing residents as community health workers, with preparation tailored to the health needs and concerns of their fellow residents. The program is housed within the Center’s Training and Evaluation Core.  The role of trained residents as specialized community health workers in public housing has been at the heart of two core research projects of the PHH-PRC  (including the one now in progress), and the collaborative process of developing the program has also been described in a publication . 

The Flyer Information and Survey Project  is an innovative effort developed and administered by the Community Committee for Health Promotion.  Each year, the CCHP develops a flyer giving residents important information and letting them know that a survey will be conducted in the coming weeks.  The CCHP then develops a short questionnaire focused on residents’ health-related concerns,  trains a cadre of residents to do a door-to-door survey, and reports the results back to the community and to the PHH-PRC partners.  The survey results inform the PHH-PRC’s planning and decision-making about programs and research projects. 

A previous intervention program of the PHH-PRC, known as GirlStars, provided a custom program of organized physical activity and health education for adolescent girls from 2002 through 2005.  The program was later evaluated as a  core research project of the Center. 

Two newer health promotion programs will soon be evaluated in pilot intervention projects.  Walking for a Healthier BHA Community  has helped residents establish and sustain walking groups in four of Boston’s public housing developments, with the goal of preventing obesity and promoting wellness.  Another program, called Knowledge is Power, empowers residents to bring health promotion programs into their housing developments through training in how to respond to requests for proposals and manage programs.

Finally, the PHH-PRC has supported the early development of community health promotion programs that are not formally under the Center’s umbrella.  For example, the Latino Health Insurance Program  began as a pilot intervention project within the PHH-PRC to enroll Latino children in health insurance programs—and was also the practicum project of a Latina physician earning her Master of Public Health (MPH) degree at Boston University School of Public Health. The Boston Asthma Initiative  is a community-based program that provides asthma education and seeks to reduce asthma triggers in homes and schools. From 2005 through 2007, the PHH-PRC supported the implementation of the Boston Asthma Initiative’s model of home asthma education in Boston’s public housing developments, as well as the development of a Resident Asthma Advocate program.

News You Can Use

The National Campaign for Full Funding for Public Housing in the United States is petitioning members of Congress to include full funding in upcoming legislation. Go to this weblink to find the petition and add your signature: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/
fullfundingforpublichousing/

Recent publications from PHH-PRC investigators:

Scammell et al., “Meeting People Where They Are: Engaging Public Housing Residents for Integrated Pest Management.” Progress in Community Health Partnerships 2011:5(2).

Rorie et al., “Use of a Resident Health Advocate Model to Improve Public Health Van Screening and Follow-Up Among Public Housing Residents” (Prev Chronic Dis 2011; 8(1)).

Douyon et al., “The GirlStars Program: Challenges to Recruitment and Retention in a Physical Activity and Health Education Program for Adolescent Girls Living in Public Housing” (Prev Chronic Dis 2010; 7(2))