OUTREACH: ASSET BASED COMMUNITY HEALTH PROMOTION

DESCRIPTION (provided by investigator): Community involvement and collaborations are cornerstones of public health. Recent research demonstrates that the social environment, lifestyles, and behaviors of members of a community can influence its incidence of illness. This application focuses on using Internet technology to foster community engagement. We will begin with faith and health communities, with an initial focus on the elderly, recognizing existing leadership and integrating health promotion into the community's established structures. We propose to develop OutReach, a Web portal linking health communities and faith communities to match volunteer caregivers with those in need. OutReach is a community health effort that will employ Internet technology as an asset mapping tool and dissemination platform for community services. Phase I will assess the acceptability and feasibility in a sample of administrative staff from caregiver organizations, volunteer caregivers, and care-receivers. Successful completion of Phase I will be identified by achievement of five specific aims: 1. Develop a prototype of OutReach incorporating basic components of the site. 2. Concept test the prototype using focus groups. 3. Explore issues related to eldercare from caregiver and care-receiver perspectives. 4. Define key components and critical functions. 5. Define barrier and facilitator variables related to program use.