Our Research

Most of the research done in the Partners in Health and Housing Prevention Research Center directly supports the Center’s mission to improve the health and well-being of public housing residents in Boston through a community-centered model of research that is linked to program development.  And of course, work that improves the health of public housing residents will also reduce disparities between their health and that of other Boston residents. 

This research uses a model known as community-based participatory research, or CBPR.  The CBPR approach rests on genuine collaboration—that is, community members are equal partners with academic researchers and, in this case, with the city’s agencies for public health and public housing—from defining the research question for a study to interpreting the study’s results.  In addition, community-based participatory research usually focuses on practical outcomes, rather than theoretical questions.  

All the core research projects of the PHH-PRC , past and current, have been community-based participatory research projects.  Both a previous core research project and the current one have focused on building programs to train and deploy specialized community health workers in the public housing setting.  In the earlier core project, these health workers were called Resident Health Advocates, and this remains the fundamental concept, though the name has been modified as the concept is applied in new settings or roles.  For example, the current core research project revolves around Resident Health Navigators.  In addition, two pilot studies of the PHH-PRC  have concerned extensions of the Resident Health Advocate model of specialized community health workers in public housing—Tobacco Treatment Advocates and Oral Health Advocates. 

The last component of our ongoing research is not community-based participatory research, but rather community health surveillance.  In this context, the term “surveillance” refers to the monitoring of community-level data on health, and it is a fundamental public health activity.  In the context of the PHH-PRC’s work, detailed surveillance data makes possible a comparison of health benchmarks for public housing residents and other residents of Boston.  Analysis of comparative data on chronic diseases and other health concerns, as well as births and deaths, increases our understanding of health disparities and can inform decisions about future programs or research projects of the PHH-PRC.

Links to PHH-PRC publications appear on the Resources page.

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))