Research Project
- Community Development For Population Health

"What will tell us the Jasper Place Gateway Foundation (JPGF) is successful"
- an Academic Program Description

The purpose of this pilot project was to assess the efficacy of an Asset-based Community Development process called Community Capacity Building and Asset Mapping© (CCB&AM©) in creating a "Healthy Community" movement and applicability of the process for use in Community Care and Public Health practice. This project was an innovative partnership between a geographic community association the Jasper Place Gateway Foundation, the private sector (Community Building Resources - CBR - www.cbr-aimhigh.com), and an academic institution (University of Alberta, Centre for Health Promotion Studies). This project tested the hypothesis that Community Capacity Building and Asset Mapping© (CCB&AM©) has a positive impact on the social and economic determinants of the health in a geographic community. These socio-economic determinants included social connectedness, economic status, and the physical environment in the JPGF area. In addition to assessment of outcomes, the study monitored the catalytic process of CCB&AM© in developing partnerships for a Healthy Community movement.

The project contributed to the development of theory and practice for community-based health promotion and challenged traditional models of health research. The proposed methodology was committed to principles of participatory action research: deriving questions from the perspective of the people who are beneficiaries of the research, valuing people's knowledge and experience in data collection and analysis, and facilitating action on research findings. The JPGF community was involved in all stages of the research. Since there has been little research to date systematically evaluating the process and outcomes of community development processes on socioeconomic determinants of health, the research approach is most appropriately exploratory and descriptive. Predominantly qualitative methods, specifically, participant observation and interviews, were used for evaluation of process, and to inform development of valid and reliable indicators of impact evaluation.

The project involved nine stages:

1. "Navigating Group" formation and operation
2. Developing and engaging local resources and support
3. Formulating healthy community goals and indicators
4. Developing a baseline assessment of the community
5. The "intervention" - (CCB&AM©)
6. Formulation/revision of indicators
7. The "During" description
8. The "Post" description
9. Reflection and interpretation.

http://www.cbr-aimhigh.com