Regional Networks

New England CCPH Regional Network

Building on partnership work already being done in Massachusetts, the New England CCPH Regional Network will develop mechanisms to increase the equal participation of community organizations in community-campus partnerships and address community-identified needs. Many of the currently existing partnerships working in isolation of each other and employ a service-learning model. The Regional Network will support the entire range of community-campus partnership strategies and will provide a "local" base of support for networking opportunities and professional development. It will also establish a cohesive identity base for partnership work related to geographic proximity and allow for expanded communication, mutual support, member involvement, and funding and research opportunities.

Specific Activities of the Regional Network

Infrastructure
The leadership structure of the Regional Network will initially consist of four steering committee members (two from academic institutions and two from community-based organizations) who will serve to establish the network and develop its functions. The leadership team will meet monthly through conference calls, and semi-annually through in person meetings.

Professional Development
The Regional Network will conduct a regional conference aimed at addressing the community needs articulated in a regional needs and assets assessment survey. The conference will also address areas such as: grantwriting, obtaining funding, community-based participatory research, developing curriculum for service-learning, assessing partnership status and health, and understanding research. The conference will serve as a vehicle to highlight the importance of partnerships being built on sound principles and will therefore include an opportunity for partners to review the parameters of their partnership.

Outreach & Dissemination
In order to determine the nature of existing and potential community-campus partnerships in the region, the Network plans to conduct a regional survey of voluntary agencies and academic institutions regarding their interest in developing and/or improving a community-campus partnership. The Network will launch a website to share, foster and support information around new and existing collaborations and partnerships. The website will also be used to support opportunities for joint funding between community partners and multiple academic sites. In the future, the Regional Network plans to create a searchable database in order to establish new partnerships.

Region
The geographic region for the New England CCPH Regional Network will be confined initially to Massachusetts. In the future, the Network plans to expand to include all of the states in the New England region.

Organizational Home & Leadership Team
The Center for Community Health, Education, Research and Service, Inc. (CCHERS), a nonprofit organization representing 16 community health centers in Boston and also a partnership composed of the Boston Public Health Commission, Boston Medical Center, Boston University School of Medicine, Northeastern University Bouve College of Health Sciences, will serve as the organizational home of the New England CCPH Regional Network. The leadership team includes:

Suzanne Cashman, Office of Community Programs and Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, University of Massachusetts Medical School
Susan Lowe, Associate Chairperson, Physical Therapy Department, Bouve College of Health Sciences, Northeastern University
Beverly Russell, Director of Health Professions Education, Center for Community Health Education Research and Service, Inc.
Ali Noorani, Director of Public Health for the Health Services Partnership of Dorchester

To learn more about Community-Campus Partnerships for Health, visit www.ccph.info. For more specific information about this CCPH Regional Network please contact:

Beverley Russell
Director, Health Professions Education
Center for Community Health Education, Research and Service
716 Columbus Avenue, Suite 398
Boston, MA 02120
Phone: 617-373-8469
Fax: 617-373-8797
Email: be.russell@neu.edu

The CCPH Regional Networks are supported in part by a grant from the federal Corporation for National and Community Service, Learn and Serve America: Higher Education.