Date of Graduation

Summer 8-12-2020

Document Access

Project/Capstone - Global access

Degree Name

Master of Public Health (MPH)

College/School

School of Nursing and Health Professions

First Advisor

Kelly L'Engle, PhD, MPH

Abstract

Purpose: The primary objective for this project was to develop recommendations for a long-term community engagement structure and process for the ten-year implementation of the San Francisco Department of Public Health’s Ending the HIV/HCV/STI Epidemics initiative.

Background: Community engagement offers public health practitioners, researchers, and policymakers the opportunity for open, respectful dialogue with community members in pursuit of a common goal. This project was designed to explore different community engagement coordinators’ experiences with undertaking such initiatives, in order to inform a large-scale funding proposal being pursued by the San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH).

Methods: Phase 1 of the project was a set of semi-structured, in-depth interviews with four coordinators of community engagement initiatives addressing health inequities in San Francisco. Phase 2 of the project was a set of semi-structured, in-depth interviews with three members of communitybased organizations engaging community members throughout the Ending the HIV/HCV/STI Epidemics planning process.

Findings: Phase 1 of the project was useful for elucidating the general experience of coordinating community engagement initiatives, and Phase 2 of the project offered support for the community engagement processes currently being utilized by SFDPH for the Ending the HIV/HCV/STI Epidemics plan.

Conclusion: Using these findings, future coordinators of community engagement efforts, especially those working on the Ending the HIV/HCV/STI Epidemics initiative in San Francisco, can develop their participatory processes to be well-informed for their target communities. In doing so, public health practitioners can actively work toward dismantling oppressive power structures within public health and seek to uplift the voices of their communities.

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