Community Engagement Projects
The HORIZON Center partners with community members on interventions to promote health and health equity and on educational and research dissemination projects to improve community knowledge about health, research, and health care.
CAB Study
The Center worked with the Roxbury CRAB on an interview study of current and promising practices of Community Advisory Boards (CABs) associated with NIMHD and CDC research centers. The study will inform guidelines to improve the effectiveness of CABs. Dr. Ester Shapiro, Director.
CARE Project
The Community and Research Empowerment (CARE) project was developed and offered in partnership with the COHS coalition and several Boston institutions. The goals of this ongoing project are to improve community research literacy, knowledge about social determinants of health and health disparities, self and community advocacy for health, and willingness to participate in clinical research. Major events during 2010-11 focused on racism, clinical trials, and the Roxbury community health fair. Institutional partners included the Museum of Science, Dana/Farber Cancer Center, and Harvard Catalyst. Dr. Ester Shapiro, Director.
Roxbury Heart and Sole
This community intervention provides a way for the Center to disseminate findings from one of its major research projects. The program is offered in partnership with the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center of Roxbury in response to requests from Roxbury residents and is open to community members. It provides training in healthy living skills using an evidence-based curriculum that was developed by Dr. Eileen Stuart-Shor and shown by her research to be effective with adult African American residents of Roxbury. The project also offers a venue for health screenings and dissemination of general health information. Dr. Eileen Stuart-Shor, Director.
Social Mentoring in Elementary Schools
In recognition that the educational gap between underrepresented minorities and the general population begins early, the Center has joined with the Dorchester Family School Initiative to help maintain academic interest among elementary school children in inner Boston. In the Empowerment Project, racioethnically-matched pairs are formed between third grade boys identified by their school as at risk and university students who are trained as mentors. Dr. Jesse Tauriac is the Center member of the leadership team for this community-initiated project. He is a post-doctoral fellow specializing in culturally-sensitive approaches for the promotion of academic success in underrepresented minorities.