Introduction to Community Building

The present healthcare model focuses more on therapeutic approaches and less on prevention, which promotes the self-efficacy, needed to create healthy communities. Poor health literacy, barriers to access and lack of trust in our healthcare system continues to fuel health disparities. Building trust in our healthcare system means we cannot be strangers to the communities we serve. As healthcare providers, it is important to develop positive interactions with people before they need treatment. Understanding the cause of health disparities is a process to improve equity towards just delivery of healthcare. These issues cannot be addressed with just one solution. We need to promote health education, increase awareness of health careers and services, and integrate wellness programs to diverse communities through a collaborative team effort. This introductory session discusses basic concepts around diversity, equity and inclusion and introduces participants to the strategies implemented through our outreach programming.