University Of Delaware: Enhancing Wellness In Delaware Communities

Wilmington DE

11 March, 2022

10:53 AM

Description

Press release from the University of Delaware: Article by Colin Heffinger March 10, 2022 Partnership for Healthy Communities receives contract award for Community Wellbeing Initiative The University of Delaware's Partnership for Healthy Communities has received a contract award for over $1 million from the state of Delaware, Department of Health and Social Services and the Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health (DSAMH) to support overall project management of the Community Wellbeing Initiative Demonstration Pilot, which prioritizes engaging cross-sector partnerships to enhance wellbeing in designated communities throughout Delaware. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention acknowledges that there is no consensus around a single definition of wellbeing. There is an agreement that at minimum, wellbeing includes the presence of positive emotions and moods, the absence of negative emotions and satisfaction with life, fulfillment and positive functioning. To accomplish these goals, partners of the initiative work collaboratively with diverse stakeholders such as Wilmington Community Advisory Council, grassroots community-based organizations, educational institutions, healthcare sectors and minority owned businesses. Two primary functional projects will be used to accomplish these priorities. First, the initiative is amplifying targeted engagement to train wellbeing 'ambassadors' in communities that are vulnerable due to high levels of inequities and trauma. Second, a targeted marketing effort using a web-based platform will be developed and implemented, dedicated to supporting community emotional wellbeing and healthy engagement initially focused on institutions of higher learning. Targeted engagement through community ambassadors Rita Landgraf serves as director of the Partnership for Healthy Communities and professor of practice and distinguished health at UD. "This initiative is focused on breaking away from the traditional structure of hierarchy and utilizing collaborations internally and externally," Landgraf said. "It's part of creating a unified partnership. We're focused on how we can bring everyone together for a shared impact and how each person influences and designs the implementation strategy." To date, 24 ambassadors – including four lead coordinators, two full-time coordinators, six community host-sites and five partners outside of UD –  are contributing to the day-to-day impact and growth of the initiative throughout vulnerable communities in Wilmington. "There's a lot of talent that we've captured from communities we're executing this in," Landgraf said. "We're able to engage these ambassadors in a co-designed developed Skills for Psychological Recovery (SPR) training. Our trained ambassadors likewise bring these skills to the community. When communities are traumatized by gun violence, natural disasters and pandemics like COVID-19, there is an increased need for wellbeing guidance to support the impact and advance coping skills as well as provide needed resources." The goal of using SPR is to provide the skills for recovering from trauma and building resilience as a protective factor for ambassadors against the challenges and stressors within their communities. This is further expanded through efforts to share and implement these skills with members of the community. Ambassadors operate like peer support leaders to local community members by addressing trauma, providing clinical support and delivering self-care resources. Having access to housing, food  and resources is critical in times of vulnerability. When community members are facing a crisis, survival becomes their highest priority, leaving wellbeing on the hold. Ambassadors fill this gap by providing the resources needed for basic survival and growth for overall wellbeing. To further aid ambassadors, host-sites have been distinguished throughout different communities in ZIP codes of high inequities and vulnerability. These host-sites operate as infrastructure for ambassadors, providing a stable place where they operate as supervisors for support extended throughout their community. "Everyone involved in this initiative is focused on finding new ways to continue adding value to build a strong connection with these communities facing structural racism," Landgraf said. Tracking overall impact An important aspect of managing the initiative's development is through tracking impact on community members and the extent of its reach. This press release was produced by the University of Delaware. The views expressed here are the author's own.