Colleges and universities have a very important role to play in building healthier communities.  In many communities, however, these institutions are viewed with mistrust and skepticism, not as partners or assets.  Academics can fail to respect and value community resources; often approaching communities in the context of short-term projects that place a priority on their goals, rather than on communities' goals.  Yet, colleges and universities have much to contribute as partners with their communities and there are many strategies that can be used to develop mutually beneficial community-campus partnerships.  Community Voices as a national initiative, and as individual programs at the community level is making a significant contribution to understanding the health workforce challenges facing communities, advancing recommendations for change, and forging community-campus collaborations.

Emphasizing community-based preventive care, community partnerships and policy change, Community Voices sites provide an ideal setting for service-learning, in which college and university students provide community service combined with reflection and explicit learning objectives as part of their formal education. Through such service-learning experiences, health professional students can gain key experience in such areas as cultural competency, interdisciplinary collaboration, and prevention.   It is imperative that the health professionals that serve our nation's communities truly understand their needs and assets.

Community Voices sites have been working with Community-Campus Partnerships for Health (CCPH), a non-profit organization committed to promoting health by fostering partnerships between communities and educational institutions, on the project, Preparing the Health Workforce of the Future: Community Voices Service-Learning Partnerships. The project seeks to facilitate and strengthen partnerships with nearby colleges and universities, and to make clear the central and pivotal role of communities in achieving a competent, diverse health workforce. Specific learning activities are underway in Denver, Miami and North Carolina.

These efforts demonstrate ways that communities can engage colleges and universities as partners in their efforts to meet community needs, improve health, and ensure a competent, diverse workforce. The Community Voices initiative offers an opportunity to learn from a model of community-driven and community-led partnerships that engage higher educational institutions to learn from community strengths and meet real community needs. Preparing the Health Workforce of the Future: Community Voices Service-Learning Partnerships promises to generate new knowledge about community-driven service-learning partnerships that can inform and improve practice across the country.

For more information about CCPH, contact:
Sarena D. Seifer, Executive Director, sarena@u.washington.edu
Rachel Vaughn, Program Coordinator, rvaughn@u.washington.edu