Disseminating a Community-Based Strategy to Improve Health and Health Care

Award Amount: $81,158
Approval Date: November 11, 2003
Start Date: December 1, 2003
End Date: June 30, 2005
Trustees of Dartmouth College
7265 Butler Building
Hanover, New Hampshire 03755
Principal Investigator: John Wasson, M.D.

Through its Small Grants Fund, the Fund has supported the Dartmouth COOP Clinical Improvement System in the development and validation of How's Your Health, a community-based approach to improving health. The model, which uses results from a patient-completed online survey to address specific health issues within a single city or region, is now ready to be implemented and diffused. This project will bring together five communities in a collaborative effort to implement How's Your Health. Each participant will commit to: 1) conducting a community assessment using the survey; 2) analyzing the results of the assessment; 3) conducting health interventions as appropriate; and 4) reporting on their impact through biweekly conference calls and online progress reports. Project staff will provide technical assistance to the communities, organize and moderate conference calls, and oversee online communications. A final report will describe the diffusion effort and its impact within the participating communities.