Community-Campus Partnership for Health: Addressing occupational disparities in at-risk children and families through a collaborative process

Key words: occupational justice, community-campus partnerships, at-risk children In recent years, the issues of health and social inequities that limit occupational performance and participation have become a focus for health professionals and occupational scientists. Themes of social and occupational justice, health disparities, occupational deprivation, and client advocacy are becoming more prevalent not only in the health profession literature, but also among those in education and social sciences (Bass-Haugen, 2009). Low-income children and families, particularly in under-served and immigrant populations, have fewer opportunities to engage in occupations that support health and well-being (Bass-Haugen, 2009). An occupational justice perspective takes into account that “individuals have the right to equal opportunities to engage in varied and meaningful occupations in order to meet basic needs and maximize their potential” (Durocher, Gibson, & Rappolt, 2013, p. 3). The focus on occupational justice presents an opportunity for academic institutions and community partners to work together to help children and families improve access to occupational opportunities and address individual and contextual factors that create barriers to educational achievement and holistic health. This presentation will describe the application and first year evaluation of an interprofessional Community-Campus Partnership for Health (CCPH) between St. Catherine University, the Montessori Center of Minnesota and community-based affiliate partners. The partnership includes faculty, health profession and education students, Montessori professionals, and community-based affiliate partner representatives. The aims of the partnership are to 1) increase the percentage of at-risk children ages 3 to 6 to be socially, emotionally, developmentally and physically ready to succeed in school and life; 2) increase caregiver capacity to support engagement in healthy child occupations; and 3)create a sustainable and interprofessional partnership. To achieve the aims, first the Community-Academic partnership was established and guided by the Community Based Participatory Research Principles established by Israel et al. (2003). Partners worked to develop communication, trust, and a model of shared knowledge, leadership and power among community-campus partners to ensure a sustainable model that addresses issues of occupational justice with at-risk children and their families. This presentation will examine the use of a CCPH model to build a sustainable partnership that integrates, strengthens and mobilizes the resources of all partners to support the occupational health and success of children and families in school and life, and demonstrates how occupational science principles can be utilized across disciplines